Man rearrested on suspicion of murder after missing mother's remains identified

A 56-year-old man from Southampton has been rearrested, this time on suspicion of murder, after human remains found in London were confirmed to belong to Joanne Sheen, a mother of three missing since 2019. The man, originally arrested in 2020 in connection with conspiracy to murder, has been released on conditional bail following the new arrest.

A second 56-year-old man, also from Southampton, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder and has since been released on bail.

Remains discovered

Metropolitan Police officers were called to Padstow Walk in Feltham on 12 August after a member of the public found human bones in shrubland that had been damaged by fire a week earlier. The fire, which broke out on 5 August at Bedfont Pits near Bedfont Lakes Country Park, damaged about two hectares of shrubland. Once the remains were identified, detectives in London handed the investigation to Hampshire Police.

Background to the disappearance

Sheen, then 44, was last seen on 5 December 2019, travelling from Fareham to Southampton with a friend. Her family reported her missing two months later, in February 2020. She had no fixed address and did not own a vehicle or hold a bank account.

The original investigation involved more than 4,000 lines of inquiry, over 300 witness statements, and searches at more than 10 addresses, some conducted using multiple vessels. Several arrests on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were made in 2020, but no charges followed and the case remained unsolved until now.