Police found no evidence of foul play

ON the afternoon of March 13 in 2023 Joanne Nield went into the NatWest branch in Accrington.

- BY AMY FENTON

After discovering she only had 58p left in her account she withdrew the cash and walked out onto St James Street. That was one of the last times Joanne was ever seen alive.

For the next five hours Joanne, from Darwen, is understood to have walked around the town centre.

CCTV captured her, probably taking shelter from the plummeting temperatures and torrential rain, in a phone box. BT's records revealed there were no incoming or outgoing calls during the 55 minutes Joanne was inside the kiosk.

Joanne, 50, is then understood to have walked around Accrington, along Edgar Street, Broadway and Blackburn Road.

Four months later her body was found in the River Hyndburn which runs underneath the town centre. One of the river's access points is on the roundabout on the A679 just yards from where Joanne was last seen.

The last sighting of Joanne came just weeks after the body of Nicola Bulley was found in the River Wyre. But public attention on the two cases couldn't have been more different.