A POLICE search for a miner who disappeared three years ago took a dramatic twist yesterday when three of his relatives were arrested.

They are believed to be the missing man's sister, his niece and his niece's husband.

Former miner Edward Donnelly vanished from the home he shared with his sister, Frances Donnelly, in Fynway, Sacriston, County Durham, on March 25, 2002.

He is missing presumed dead, although his body has never been found.

Police in Durham investigating the disappearance have arrested a 41-year-old Sacriston man on suspicion of murder. He was being questioned at Durham police station yesterday.

The Northern Echo understands he is Kevin Griggs, the husband of Mr Donnelly's niece.

A woman in her 30s from Morningside, Sacriston - understood to be Mr Donnelly's niece Marie Griggs - was also arrested, along with Mr Donnelly's 65-year-old sister, Frances.

Last night, they were being questioned on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Malcolm said: "We are now treating the investigation into Mr Donnelly's disappearance as a murder inquiry, but so far we have not found his body."

The mystery of what happened to the then 53-year-old, known to family and friends as Eddie, deepened when police excavated the site of a former coal mine at Blackett's Bank, in Acorn Close Lane, Sacriston, in an attempt to discover what had become of him.

They also searched a building that was once an air raid shelter and explosives store.

Last March, John Robert Pounder, 49, of Sacriston, was arrested in connection with the disappearance.

He was charged with perverting the course of justice, but was found dead in what police say were non-suspicious circumstances in April.

After a tip-off, officers had searched Mr Pounder's house and samples from the house were sent for forensic examination.

At the time of Mr Donnelly's disappearance, his sister said she had returned home to find his keys, which he had posted through the letterbox, and his cheque book, cash card and other documents.

Ms Donnelly had said her brother had money worries.

She said: "He had invested a lot of his money in stocks and shares and wanted to get his cash back, he had been waiting for more than a year.

"He was very worried about it and, as I know, worry is a very funny thing, and suddenly he just went."

When Mr Pounder was arrested earlier this year, Ms Donnelly was reported as saying she was convinced her brother was still alive and hoped the new inquiry would prompt him to come forward.

Detective Superintendent Neil Malkin said: "Ever since Eddie Donnelly was reported missing, we have used all resources available to us in a bid to find him.

"Mr Donnelly was a member of the community in Sacriston and I am asking people who live in the village to help us establish what had happened."

Anyone with information is asked to call 0845 60 60 365, extension 661 2237.