Police cordoned off a stretch of woodland on Tuesday in the search for a missing mother who is believed to have been kidnapped.
Mother-of-two Katie Kenyon, 33, from Padiham in Burnley, has not been seen by her worried family since last Friday morning.
Officers are now scouring the 3,000-acre Gisburn forest in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley, some 23 miles away from where she was last seen.
A friend of the Katie Kenyon described her disappearance as a “real-life nightmare” in comments to The Sun, adding that Ms Kenyon’s children were “missing her and love her”. Her sister described her sudden disappearance as “very unusual and out of character”.
Ms Kenyon parked her car at 9:15am on Todmorden Road, Burnley, on Friday and before getting into a silver Ford Transit, with the registration MT57 FLC, with an unknown man around 15 minutes later. She has not been seen since.
Detectives at Lancashire Constabulary have been granted further time to question a 50-year-old Burnley man, who is known to Ms Kenyon, on suspicion of kidnap.
Ms Kenyon’s Samsung phone stopped ringing just after 2pm, after she got into the van on Friday, and her car still contained her belongings.
Her sister Jenny posted on social media: “Samsung! Been off since 2pm yesterday. Took her car to a house and posted her things and vanished!
“Very unusual and out of character for Katie. Nothing adds up and we are all concerned for her and her whereabouts.
“She drives a white Fiesta, which was dropped at a house in Burnley on Todmorden Road with her belongings - still doesn’t make sense.”
Gisburn Forest is said to be the largest wooded area in the county – measuring more than 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres, or more than 4.6 square miles) – and is popular with walkers and cyclists.
Police issued a photograph of the silver Transit van, which was later found in Burnley, as they appealed for anyone who saw the vehicle, or has dashcam footage, to come forward.
Detective Chief Inspector Al Davies, of the force major investigation team, said: “We continue to be extremely concerned about Katie and we have a large team who are working hard to try and find out what has happened to her.
“I am keeping an open mind about what has happened to her but my concern obviously grows as time goes by.
“I would appeal again for anyone who was in the Bolton-by-Bowland area on Friday and saw anything suspicious to get in touch, especially if they saw the silver van or Katie alone or in company.
“Please do come and speak to us even if you think the information you have may not be important.”
Ms Kenyon is described as white, 5ft 9in, with shoulder-length strawberry blonde/ginger hair.
She was last seen wearing a blue shirt or jacket, a white vest top, black leggings and flip flops.
Her family are being supported by specially trained officers.
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting log 800 of April 24, or contact officers through the Major Incident Public Portal. Alternatively, call independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
