End our nightmare, say shot bride's family

The family of a man suspected of shooting dead his newly married daughter urged him to go to the police yesterday.

The family of a man suspected of shooting dead his newly married daughter urged him to go to the police yesterday.

Terry Rodgers, who had given Chanel Taylor, 23, away at her wedding just seven weeks earlier, disappeared shortly before she was blasted in the head with a shotgun. Her body was discovered by her husband at their home in Huthwaite, north Nottinghamshire, last Friday.

Police confirmed yesterday that 55-year-old Rodgers, who has been described by friends as "possessive", was the prime suspect in the murder and urged anyone who might be sheltering him to contact them. He had recently split up with his wife and was living with the newly-weds.

It has emerged that he had come under pressure to pay for his daughter's wedding and honeymoon in Mexico - causing a row with his wife.

Detectives said they were still unsure of the motive for the killing. But they said there had been two confirmed sightings of the former security man, who was known to police before the shooting. They also confirmed that he was holding a shotgun illegally and his family were unaware that he had the weapon.

The two confirmed sightings were in the Hucknall area of Nottingham, where his car, a red Peugeot, was found abandoned, on Saturday, seven miles from the murder scene.

Colt Rodgers, 19, the brother of the murdered hairdresser, appealed to his father to contact police and end the family's "nightmare".

He said: "Over the past few days our lives have been turned upside down. Chanel's death has left so many unanswered questions. Dad, we need your help to make sense of this nightmare. I am trying to be strong, especially for mum, but we are all devastated. We've always been close, it was only the other week we were all together sharing Chanel's big day. If you are watching or listening, we need you to come forward for Chanel's sake and yours."

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Cottee, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "We are working on the basis that Terry was in the house when Lee Taylor left for work that morning and, as such, Terry Rodgers is now the main suspect in this murder investigation. The relationship between Terry and Chanel was a good relationship."

Mr Rodgers' sister Jean Winfield, 65, said her brother had been sleeping in a caravan after closing the security firm he ran and separating from his wife Anne. "He was under tremendous pressure to pay for Chanel's wedding. He also paid for her and Lee's honeymoon in Mexico. But Anne didn't want him getting involved in planning it. He was really upset about it."

A friend of the missing man said he had attempted to take his own life . Kevin Phillips, 39, said: "Apparently Chanel found him. He said he remembered waking up after taking about 80 pills but he didn't know why he did it."