Leanne Chambers has not been seen since February 23 (From The Northern Echo)

Leanne Chambers has not been seen since February 23

8:31am Thursday 18th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

POLICE are investigating a possible sighting of a woman who has been missing for more than three weeks.

Leanne Chambers has not been seen since she left her home in Chester-le-Street, on February 23.

However, a taxi driver has contacted police to say he saw a woman answering her description near a village in South Wales, in the early hours of March 7.

Investigators have contacted their counterparts in Wales to follow up the potential sighting.

Today, officers from Durham’s marine unit will resume their search of the River Wear in the hunt for the missing 30-year-old.

Ms Chambers, who was being treated for depression, disappeared from the home she shares with boyfriend Steven Crossland, in The Anchorage.

Her purse, coat and mobile phone were found near the River Wear, in Riverside Park, Chester-le-Street.

The case was featured on the BBC’s Missing Live programme screened on Monday morning.

Following the broadcast, a taxi driver contacted police to say he had stopped to speak to a woman answering Ms Chambers’ description who was walking along the A470 dual carriageway in Abercynon in the early hours.

During a brief conversation, in which she mentioned connections to the North- East, she declined to get in the taxi and continued walking.

The location is about 20 miles from Cardiff and the same distance from a branch of Ms Chambers’ employer, car parts supplier Calsonic.

A spokesman for Durham Police said: “The taxi driver has been shown a picture of Leanne and believes it is the same woman.

“We are making inquiries with South Wales Police but it is only one line of inquiry and we are continuing with our search of the river.”

Ms Chambers, who is originally from Shildon, County Durham, and who used to work for The Northern Echo as a sales representative, is 5ft 7in, slim to medium build and was wearing her hair in a dark brown bob. At the time she went missing, she was wearing a grey hooded top, black leggings and dark Ugg boots.

Anyone with information is asked to call 0345-60-60-365.