Peter Stuart murder: Missing woman may still be alive, police say

Police are trying to trace Ali Qazimaj who may have fled the country

Harry Cockburn
Monday 06 June 2016 18:41 BST
Police are keen to speak to Ali Qazimaj in connection with the murder of Peter Stuart
Police are keen to speak to Ali Qazimaj in connection with the murder of Peter Stuart

A woman who has gone missing after her husband was stabbed to death at their home in Suffolk may be alive, police have said.

Sylvia Stuart, 69, went missing shortly before the body of her husband, 75-year-old Peter Woods, was found in woods on Friday night.

Police feared Mrs Stuart may have also been murdered, but detectives have now said she could be alive having searched the car of 42-year-old Ali Qazimaj, a key suspect in the case.

One man has already been arrested on suspicion of murder, but police are now trying to locate Mr Qazimaj, from Essex, who has been named as someone they want to speak to in connection with Mr Stuart’s death.

But it is feared Mr Qazimaj may have already fled the country, after his car was located in Dover.

Police confirmed a connection between Mr Quazimaj and the family. He was last seen on Friday, the same day Mr and Mrs Stuart were reported missing.

Sylvia Stewart went missing on Friday

The couple had been married for 48 years, and were seen at their Thursday night line dancing class the day before they were reported missing.

A post-mortem revealed that Mr Stuart died of multiple stab wounds.

Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Parkes said: “Our priority remains locating Sylvia and we are continuing to conduct searches in Weybread as well as making further enquiries.

”While our hopes for Sylvia's safety are reducing with the passage of time, there remains the possibility that she is still alive.

“We are also actively working to find Ali Qazimaj and determine his movements since Saturday 28 May, and would ask that anyone with information contacts our incident room as soon as possible.

”The 61-year-old man arrested yesterday is still in custody as we work to find out what happened to Peter and Sylvia.“

A spokesperson for Suffolk Police said: “Work done over the course of Sunday evening confirmed Ali Qazimaj as a key person that police need to trace in connection with the enquiry.

“Mr Qazimaj is described as white, around 5ft 6ins tall, with brown eyes and dark brown greying hair. He was last seen on Friday, 3 June, in Essex.

“As part of extensive work to locate him, around midnight Sunday into today, Monday 6 June, his car – a silver Citroen C3 – was located in a residential area of Dover.

“This vehicle has been searched in the hope of finding Sylvia and has been recovered for forensic examination. Enquiries to locate Mr Qazimaj continue.”

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