Vanessa ford: Body found in search for missing mum

A body has been found in the search for a London mother who went missing from her home on Saturday.

Vanessa Ford vanished near Richmond Road in Hackney at just after 11am on Saturday.

British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed to Yahoo News UK that a woman's body was found on railway tracks between Dalston Kingsland and Hackney Central the same morning.

Formal identification is still to be confirmed but Ford’s family have been informed.

A spokesperson for BTP said: “Officers were called to the line close to Dalston Kingsland at 11.49am on 23 September following reports of a casualty on the tracks.

“Paramedics also attended...sadly a person was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”

Writer Sophie Heawood had previously appealed for help in tracing Ford.

The author of the best-selling memoir The Hungover Games posted on X, formerly Twitter, urging anyone who may have seen the woman - named Vanessa - to contact police.

She wrote: "A friend of friends, a mother, has gone missing from London Fields, Hackney.

"MISSING PERSON Vanessa has been missing since 11am Sat 23rd September. Last seen in vicinity of Richmond Road where she lives, in dark top and leggings.

"Please contact police with any info at all."

Heawood, a former celebrity journalist, said Vanessa had left the house without her phone, keys or purse.

Fellow journalist Tom Gatti, the executive editor of culture, books, ideas and print at the New Statesmen, also posted on X.

He said: "Looking for our friend Vanessa from Hackney, who has been missing since Saturday morning".

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police had confirmed to Yahoo News UK on Monday that Ford had been reported missing from her home in north London, but would not give further details.

He said: "Vanessa was reported missing on Saturday, 23 September and enquiries are ongoing to locate her. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call 101 quoting reference 23MIS032463."

How many people go missing in the UK each year?

Using data from the National Crime Agency report 2021-22, national charity Missing People found someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK, and almost 170,000 people are reported missing every year.

Missing People says that more than 320,000 reported missing incidents every year, and it has found that most of those reported missing could be experiencing some kind of vulnerability or risk.