"Many Photos" - Man, 86, arrested after woman's body is found in a septic tank

Brenda Venables disappeared in 1982 aged 48 from her home in Worcestershire 

A farmer has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife after human remains were found in a septic tank 37 years after she disappeared. 

Officers searched the bungalow of David Venables, 86, whose wife Brenda vanished from the property near Kempsey, Worcestershire, in 1982.

Villagers in the area today said that at one point at the start of the original  investigation, Mr Venebles told neighbours that his wife 'had gone to Spain'. 

The neighbour, who did not want to be named said: 'Mrs Venables used to go every week to her parents in Bromsgrove.

'After she went missing, people thought she had gone in the river and committed suicide.

'At one point he [Mr Venables] told someone his wife had gone off to Spain.'

The discovery on July 12 came nearly 40 years after she mysteriously disappeared, and officers had since been investigating whether the bones were those of Mrs Venables, who went missing aged 48.

Today, West Mercia Police said that although detectives are still awaiting DNA results, 'the general circumstances lead us to believe' that the remains are likely to be those of Mrs Venables.   

Police searched the current bungalow address of Mr Venables today, with three marked cars including a police van and two unmarked cars at the scene.

An officer leaves David Venables's house in Kempsey, Worcestershire, during the search today

Police stand outside the house today as the probe into the remains of the woman continues

Two officers leave the bungalow in Kempsey today following the arrest of Mr Venables

A red estate car could be seen parked on the driveway of the detached property in a cul-de-sac. Officers wearing gloves could also be seen inside the property. 

Mrs Venables and her husband now lives a mile away from the farmhouse, where they once ran a nursery, while Mr Venables was said to have a piggery nearby.

Retired farmer David Venables pictured at his home in Kempsey, Worcestershire, on July 18

They were not thought to have any children. The force would not be drawn on activity at the scene other than to say it was 'a line of investigation'.

Police said their suspect remains in custody and is helping officers with their inquiries following the discovery. 

Villagers said body parts were discovered in a bag in a cesspit being drained during routine maintenance. 

Police have dismissed speculation the remains may be of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, who vanished in nearby Pershore four years later in 1986. 

Earlier this month, a relative of Mrs Venables said: 'We have had no developments for 37 years. To suddenly be confronted with this major development is quite a lot to process.

'Brenda's bank account remained untouched and there were no positive sightings of her after she disappeared.'

The police presence outside the address in Kempsey where the search is ongoing today

West Mercia Police officers search David Venables's house today in Kempsey after the arrest

Mr Venables now lives about a mile away from the farmhouse where the remains were found

A local said: 'When the wife disappeared it was big news here. Police searched my outbuildings and deployed tracker dogs. 

'There was a suggestion that she may have ended up in the River Severn, which is only a few fields away from their farmhouse.'

After the disappearance of Mrs Venables, the case was treated as a search for a missing person and did not become a murder inquiry.

Mr Venables sold the farmhouse to a relative for £467,000 five years ago and now lives in the bungalow around a mile away.

A newspaper cutting in the Worcester News reporting Mrs Venables's disappearance in 1982

The discovery of remains was made in the village of Kempsey in Worcestershire on July 12

An aerial view of the house and cesspit (centre bottom between trees) in Kempsey on July 16

In May 1982, the Worcester Evening News ran a story on 48-year-old Mrs Venables going missing from her home in Bestmans Lane.

Her husband said: 'I just woke up to find that she had gone. She has never done anything like this before and I haven't the faintest idea what has happened to her.'

Some years ago Mrs Venables's name was added to her parents' gravestone at St Michael's church in Rushock, recording her year of death as 1982.

A family source said it was a way of remembering her despite the absence of a body. 

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News Photo Man, 86, arrested after woman's body is found in a septic tank
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