POLICE investigating the disappearance of a Polish milkmaid have admitted they are not ruling out the possibility that she could be dead.

Yesterday, police diving teams began investigating the ponds and slurry pits surrounding New Grange Farm in Walworth, near Darlington, as they stepped up their search for 27-year-old Danuta Domagalska.

It has transpired that in the days after Mrs Domagalska, a mother of one, disappeared on August 6, her brother, Piotr Lawniczak, convinced her husband that she was simply working long hours at the farm and that was why she had not returned home.

Officers have renewed their appeal for 31-year-old Mr Lawniczak to make contact with police.

Mr Lawniczak has not been seen since Sunday. He went missing shortly after the farm’s owners, John and Susan Archer, became concerned about Mrs Domagalska and questioned her brother and husband, Marcin, about her whereabouts.

Yesterday, the man leading the investigation, Detective Superintendent Adrian Green, said Mr Domagalska was helping police with their investigation as a witness and was not under suspicion.

He and Mrs Domagalska’s mother and five-year-old son, who are both in Poland, were all concerned about her safety, the officer said.

Mrs Domagalska worked in the milking parlour at the dairy farm, alongside her husband and brother, who worked as herdsmen.

All three lived in a cottage on the farm estate. Both Mrs Domagalska’s BMW car and a vehicle belonging to her brother were still at the cottage despite their disappearances.

Yesterday, Det Supt Green said Mr Lawniczak could speak English significantly better than his sister and her husband and they relied on him to communicate with other people.

He said: “They were led to believe a situation from Piotr and that situation may not have been accurate.”

Elaborating further, he said that Mr Lawniczak told Mr Domagalska his sister had not left the farm for several days after she was last seen.

Det Supt Green said: “Her husband thought she was at work at the time.

“He was led to believe she was working long hours and that we now know is not the case.”

He urged Mr Lawniczak to make contact with police for the sake of his family.

Mrs Domagalska was described as a “friendly and hard-working” member of staff.

The disappearance of Mrs Domagalska, which was very out of character, and her lack of communication with her family in Poland, coupled with her brother going missing, has led police to treat her as a high-risk missing person.

Det Supt Green said: “We have to be alive to the fact she could be alive and could be fit and well elsewhere.

“She could be well, but we also have to be conscious to the fact she may no longer be alive and that’s why we’re searching the farm in great detail and will be for some time to come.

“Her disappearance is very unexpected.”

More than 20 officers are at the farm, which covers several hundred acres, searching for clues.

Det Supt Green said police were investigating other parts of the country where she and her brother have associations.

Police were also liaising with counterparts in Poland.

Mr Lawniczak was also described as a hard-working member of staff.

Det Supt Green said he had a “quite complicated employment situation”.

He owned a small haulage business and would transport items into the UK from Poland during return trips to his native country. However, Det Supt Green said this activity was not thought to be illegal.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Mr Lawniczak or Mrs Domagalska is asked to call police on 0345-60-60-365 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.