The loved ones of a beloved mother who vanished nine months ago have accused the police force investigating her disappearance of not reacting fast enough in the first days.
Denise Jarvis, 44, was last seen on the evening of Wednesday August 3, the day after a row with her parents who she had been staying with after she left her husband.
She was reported missing the next day from her home in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, but it took Avon and Somerset Police nearly another two weeks before their first public appeal on August 17.
The force also mistakenly said Denise had last been seen outside a Sainsbury's store in Kingswood, although no CCTV footage was ever shared.
A neighbour says it took officers four months to see CCTV footage, by which time it had been wiped, Mail Online reported.
A source said of the investigation: “Not a single piece of progress by the police has been revealed, there appears to be a general apathy from the police around her case.
“Her son deserves to know what has happened to his mum, or at least deserves to see an attempt to find out.
“The impression the general public have of Denise, from what has been released to date, is very misleading.”
Avon and Somerset Police says officers have completed more than 700 actions and spoken to more than 90 of Denise’s contacts in the hope of finding her.
Extensive searches of the area she was last seen have also been carried out as well as other “intelligence”.
Senior Investigating Officer Det Insp Ben Lavender made a renewed appeal for information on Channel 5’s Vanished: The Hunt for Britain’s Missing programme last month.
DI Lavender said on the programme: “While we’re carrying out land searches, specialist searches and with our dive team, we are preparing for the worst but really still hoping for the best, and we hope that this will come to a positive outcome for her family."
On the CCTV showing Denise wearing the coat she was last seen in, he said: “It’s quite a distinctive coat…while clearly time has moved on, and she’s unlikely to be wearing the same clothes now, if anyone has seen that coat discarded or if she’s still wearing it, that will jog some memories.”
Speaking after the programme, he added: “We’re committed to getting the answers Denise’s family so desperately need and we’ll leave no stone unturned in our efforts to find out what happened to her.
“This will include continuing enquiries around her phone and communications data, as well as past financial transactions, and we’ll continue to speak with all known relatives, friends and associates of Denise.”
