Missing parents: woman's body found

Police searching for a couple who vanished, abandoning two young children, were today examining a body found in the boot of a car.

Inga Losiene and Farik Farukh, both 32, of Southend, disappeared late last month.

Ms Losiene, who is Lithuanian, vanished after saying she was going shopping on Friday, 27 May, police said.

Mr Farukh, an Iraqi Kurd, went missing from the seafront pub where he worked two days later.

A police spokeswoman today said officers were linking the discovery of a body in the boot of a car with the disappearance of Ms Losiene.

She said the body was found in a car parked near a railway station in Southend at about 10.30pm yesterday.

The spokeswoman said police had been directed to the car by a member of the public. "We are linking what is thought to be a body in the boot of the car to the disappearance of Inga Losiene."

Ms Losiene disappeared after leaving her children, aged six and 11, with babysitters.