Police investigating the disappearance of a woman more than 17 years ago are searching a river in Leicestershire.

Malgorzata Wnuczek was 27-years-old when she disappeared on 31 May 2006.

She was last seen catching a bus from Peter Jackson Logistics in Sunningdale Road, Leicester, where she worked, into Leicester city centre.

The last contact she had with her family, who affectionately referred to her as Gosia, was via text message on 29 May 2006.

Despite another appeal from police and her loved ones in 2016 – a decade on from when she was last seen – her whereabouts remain unknown.

However, Leicestershire Police revealed that today specialist teams are carrying out a search of the River Soar, around the area of the Mill Lane bridge.

A 39-year-old man has also been arrested in Greater Manchester on suspicion of assisting an offender and perverting the course of justice.

After working with police in Ms Wnuczek’s native Poland, detectives believe there may be people within Leicester’s Polish community who know what happened to her.

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Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Jenni Heggs of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) said: “Malgorzata was 27 when she was last seen. Two days ago it was her 44th birthday.

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“Officers both in the UK and in Poland have remained in contact with her family since she was last seen.

“Following information provided to us by our Polish colleagues, we are carrying out a search of the River Soar in the hope we might find something that can help us to establish Malgorzata’s whereabouts.

“Since the investigation began, more than 2,000 potential witnesses have raised more than 2,500 lines of enquiry, with more than 100 statements taken. But we still do not know where Malgorzata is or what might’ve happened to her.

“However, I firmly believe there are people out there who do. For more than 17 years, her family have lived their lives in darkness and we owe it to them to answer the questions they have.”

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