The body of missing Joanne Jones, 49, is believed to have been recovered in Wales. It comes following a huge search and rescue operation in the community this week
Police have issued a major update in the search for a missing woman who was last seen waving before heading towards a remote forest.
Joanne Jones was reported missing after vanishing from the Pontypridd area in Wales on Monday. South Wales Police launched an appeal for information in a bid to locate the missing 49-year-old earlier this week.
On Saturday evening, the force issued a devastating update to say that they had recovered a body. Police earlier released dashcam images which showed Ms Jones as she looked towards a camera before she smiled and waved at around 10.05am on Monday. She was last seen walking on the road near to the Gwynno forest.
In a statement, South Wales Police said: “Police officers searching for Joanne Jones, who has been missing since Monday, have recovered the body of a woman. Formal identification is yet to take place. Ms Jones’ family and HM Coroner have been informed.”
The force thanked the local community for their support. In Pontypridd on Thursday and Friday, many joined the search for Ms Jones, while traders stuck posters of the missing woman in their shop windows, reports Wales Online.
On Friday, chief inspector Matt Rowlands said his team had worked “tirelessly to try and establish the circumstances around her disappearance”. Multiple services were deployed in the search including National Police Air Service, drones, Mountain Rescue volunteers and specialist search dogs.
On Facebook, one person said it was a “shock to hear this sad news”, they added: “many of us, I’m sure, didn’t know Joanne personally, but knew her through the sharing of FB posts in the search for her. R.l.P Lovely Lady”. Another one said that the news was “absolutely devastating” and said their “thoughts are with her family and friends”.
Others praised the police and community efforts in their search for her. One said: “We were all hoping for a happy ending. I think it’s amazing what South Wales Police [and] the wider community of Pontypridd have done to find her. They get a lot of stick but they’ve done so well here, searching in all conditions to bring Joanne home to her family. It’s just awful it wasn’t a better outcome.”
Others said they had known Joanne personally, describing her as the “nicest person you could meet” and that “her lovely smile would light up the room”. Another described her as a “beautiful person inside and out”.
Another noted that Joanne had been on “all our minds” since it had been announced she was missing. They added: “I’m so saddened to hear this and my thoughts truly go out to her family. We were all hoping for a different outcome”.
