Polish connection in murder hunt

12:24pm Tuesday 29th January 2008

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By Jenny Makin »

Click here for a Polish translation of this story in PDF format.

A MURDER inquiry has been extended overseas because a man police want to speak to is feared to have left the country, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Ports and airports were on alert today after it was revealed that the man may have gone abroad.

Detectives investigating the murder of grandmother Georgina Edmonds are considering the possibility that the man, who was sharing a rented house, has returned to his native Poland.

He is not being named by police, who say he is not being treated as a suspect but is one of several lines of inquiry being investigated.

So far no officers from Hampshire have been deployed to Poland.

Teams of police raided the semi-detached home in Twyford Road in Eastleigh after it came to light that the man was missing. It is thought he had lived there for just a couple of months.

As reported in yesterday's Daily Echo, officers forced their way into the property under the cover of darkness on Friday night. Detectives said a number of items had been seized from the address and are being examined but refused to divulge more details.

It is believed four men lived at the address and those inside were removed and placed in temporary accommodation. No arrests were made.

They were being put up in a hotel while forensic teams scoured the house, owned by a female landlady, inch by inch.

All four bedrooms were searched as well as the remainder of the rooms at the property.

An adjoining alleyway was also cordoned off and bins, which have not been emptied since the murder of Georgina Edmonds on January 11, were meticulously searched.

Removed Items were removed and laid out on the floor where they were photographed before being taken away.

The missing man has not been seen for several days but was known to be in the county prior to the murder of Mrs Edmonds.

Detectives are not releasing his details but confirmed the search in Twyford Road was one of many lines of inquiry being pursued as part of Operation Columbian.

It is now been 18 days since Mrs Edmonds, 77, was brutally murdered in her cottage in Kiln Lane. She was found bludgeoned to death in the kitchen, having been repeatedly hit with a blunt instrument.

Police have confirmed that she also suffered other injuries but are refusing to confirm what they were.

Detectives are also keen to trace people who used the footpath which runs alongside the River Itchen south from Brambridge towards Highbridge Road, Allbrook Hill and generally in the direction of Twyford Road.

Detective Chief Insp Paul Barton said the river path was a natural route from the village to the Twyford Road area.

He said: "We are appealing to people who used that footpath.

Did you see anyone acting suspiciously? Did you hear or see anything unusual?"

Contact police in the operation Columbian incident room on 0845 045 4545 or call Crimestopp-ers on 0800 555 111.

Click here for the complete archive of articles related to the murder of Georgina Edmonds.

Today the Daily Echo publishes this story in both English and Polish to reach as as many people as possible and encourage anyone who may have information to come forward and assist the police.