Frogmen hunt for missing butcher

DETECTIVES investigating the disappearance of a man almost 10 years ago have begun scouring waterways in West Yorkshire.

Alan Crabtree was reported missing from his home in Bradford in

September 2000, but there has since been no trace of the former butcher, who was unemployed.

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West Yorkshire Police's underwater search unit began combing Keighley Tarn earlier this week in the first of a series of searches of waterways in the Keighley and Bingley area over the coming weeks.

The operation is the result of arrests made earlier this year in Kent in connection with Mr Crabtree's disappearance.

In February, a 38-year-old man and a woman, aged 37, were arrested in Margate on suspicion of murder and later released without charge.

It is believed that both of those arrested were living in the Bradford district at the time of Mr Crabtree's disappearance.

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A 50-year-old man, who was later arrested in Keighley, was released on bail pending further enquiries.

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Atkinson, of West Yorkshire Police's Homicide and Major Enquiries Team (HMET), said that the investigation was continuing.

He said: "Alan Crabtree went missing on September 13, 2000, and the last confirmed sighting we have of him was in Keighley, so the area still remains a central focus of our enquiries.

"We are almost 10 years on but this remains an ongoing investigation. What we have been and are currently doing some detailed searches of obvious areas to help us eliminate these from our enquiries.

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"More searches are planned and we won't rest until we find Alan and our thoughts remain with his mother. Hopefully by finding Alan, we will be able to bring her some closure."

Mr Crabtree was 41 years old and single when he was reported missing from his home address in Tong Street, Bradford.

It is thought that he had travelled from his home to Keighley on September 13, 2000, where he visited an address on Alice Street.

Since that date there have been no other confirmed sightings of the former butcher, whose brother and mother live in West Yorkshire.

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DCI Atkinson said: "We will not rest until we find Alan. It is very much an open book. We need to get some closure for his mother. It has been 10 years, but it's her son. These things do not get put to one side. Alan is very much in her thoughts.

"We are keeping an open mind and we are always optimistic. People have turned up alive after longer periods than this."

The detective said that police had found no reason why anyone would want to harm Mr Crabtree.

He added: "He was a local man who lived in the Bradford area. We cannot find anything why anybody would want to harm him.

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"There is nothing in his background that would indicate that he would want to absent himself."

The underwater search unit will focus its attention on the waterways which run between Keighley and Bingley.

Experts from the unit waded through the shallow waters of Keighley Tarn during Thursday's search.

Anyone with information about Mr Crabtree is urged to contact the HMET on 0845 6060606 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.