Man held in Yorkshire over bodies in buried van inquiry

Detectives investigating a double murder have arrested a man in Yorkshire after two bodies were found in a van which had been buried in a field.
By Rob Preece Crime Correspondent
Published 19th Jul 2011, 07:00 BST

A 25-year-old man was arrested in Huddersfield yesterday in connection with the deaths of David Griffiths and Brett Flournoy, who went missing in Cornwall last month. West Yorkshire Police carried out the arrest on behalf of Devon and Cornwall Police, which is leading the double murder inquiry.

It is the most significant development in the case since Friday, when a van was unearthed in farmland just north of the Cornish town of St Austell. The vehicle contained two bodies, which are yet to be formally identified.

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Detective Inspector Costa Nassaris, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “The investigation continues to move at a fast pace ... This man will now be transported to Cornwall for questioning by detectives.

“The families have been updated on the progress of the investigation and our thoughts are with them at this terrible time.”

Mr Griffiths, originally from Plymouth but living in Bracknell, Berkshire, and Mr Flournoy, a professional boxer from the Wirral, Merseyside, were last seen on Thursday June 16.

The men, both in their early 30s, are known to have arrived in Cornwall at around 7.30pm for what police called a “social visit”.

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Mr Flournoy is known to have picked Mr Griffiths up in a van from a car park on the Plymouth side of the Tamar Bridge, which links Devon and Cornwall, at around 7pm on June 16.

It is thought that the men travelled across to Saltash in east Cornwall but were not seen alive again.

A 28-year-old man from Cornwall appeared before Bodmin magistrates on Saturday, charged with disposing of a corpse to obstruct a coroner.