A quiet mid Norfolk village is in shock today after it emerged police believe a missing local woman has been murdered.

A 56-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering Diane Douglas, 58, who has not been seen for a "significant period of time."

Colton-murder-enquiry-launched-in-search-for-Diane-Douglas

Norfolk police said Ms Douglas, of Colton, near Norwich, was reported missing on October 21 by family members "who had lost contact with her for several years".

Although the search will be continuing for a number of days, the whereabouts of the search remained a mystery on Sunday morning.

One local runner, who did not want to be named, said he was shocked by the news.

“This is typically a tranquil village and I can’t believe something like this has happened.

“I haven’t seen anything in the village, no police or nothing, but to think there’s a murder investigation happening on your doorstep is rather creepy.

“I can’t imagine what the poor family is going through right now.”

Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team have declared the case a so-called "no body murder" investigation after making efforts to trace Ms Douglas.

It comes after her family contacted the force after renewed attempts to get in touch with her failed.

The arrested man was known to Ms Douglas and was detained on Saturday evening in Wales and is being brought back to Norfolk for questioning.

Det Insp Matthew Connick said: "Although we hope to find Diane alive, we do believe it is highly likely that she has come to harm as she has not been seen for a significant period of time, we have therefore launched a murder investigation.

"A man has been arrested this evening and will be questioned in due course on suspicion of her murder.

"We have a team of officers searching her last known address in Colton and we expect this search to continue for a number of days."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting Operation Entity.