Last-known CCTV released of missing woman who police fear has been murdered

Police leading a murder inquiry issued an urgent appeal for help from the public

The last-known CCTV footage has been released of a 24-year-old woman missing for a year who police fear has been murdered.

Police leading a murder inquiry released the grainy footage of the last confirmed sighting of Alisha Apostoloff-Boyarin on 17 January last year, after she was reported missing by her grandmother in Ashton-under-Lyme three days earlier.

The footage shows her carrying a green supermarket basket in ASDA next to an unknown man wearing a facemask and a hat. They can be seen looking at shelves on an aisle before walking away and leaving the shop together.

Further footage shows her sitting in the passenger seat of a gold Volkswagen Passat at a petrol station while a man fills the car with fuel.

With the search for Ms Apostoloff-Boyarin stretching over 14 months, police renewed their appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch Live on Monday, saying: “That little piece of information might give us what we need to know to locate Alisha.”

Ms Apostoloff-Boyarin was last seen travelling in what police believe was the same gold Volkswagen Passat on 22 January in the Glossop and Chapel-en-le-Frith areas in Derbyshire. Police classified her as vulnerable when she went missing because she was alcohol dependent.

Detective Inspector Andrew Naismith said the CCTV footage was taken when “the last official transaction” of Ms Apostoloff-Boyarin’s bank account was recorded.

Det Insp Naismith said: “She’s actually in a supermarket and she actually uses her bank card on this date. This is the last official transaction we have of Alisha using anything to do with her bank account.

“We know that later this day she travels to Sunderland Bridge in the Croxdale area of Durham so we know at this point she is alive and well.”

Of the gold Volkswagen Passat, he added: “This is the vehicle that we believe Alisha was travelling in. She is a front seat passenger. We have recovered this vehicle but this vehicle is really important to our inquiry. This was on January 17 as well.”

He said Alisha’s family were “desperate for answers” about the case, which was escalated from a missing persons inquiry to a murder inquiry last year.

He told the BBC: “They want any answers about the whereabouts of Alisha. One of the tragedies of this has been that Alisha’s grandmother, who she was probably the most closest to in the family, has actually passed away in that time without answers.

“That little piece of information might give us what we know to locate Alisha. The missing persons inquiry has now been escalated to a murder inquiry because we believe Alisha has come to significant harm.”

He also appealed for anyone with information about the car’s movements to come forward.

A man aged 59 at the time was arrested on suspicion of murder in March last year and released under investigation. A second man was arrested later in March, aged 50 at the time, on suspicion of assisting an offender. He has since been released with no further action taken.