POLICE have arrested a man in connection with an investigation into a missing woman from the North East.
Grandmother Pamela Jackson, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, has been the subject of a police hunt since Thursday.
Police investigating the 55-year-old’s disappearance yesterday confirmed they are questioning a 50-year-old man from West Yorkshire.
He has been taken into custody at Durham police station.
Officers launched a search for the mother of three after her youngest son, Joe Jackson, 21, became concerned for her safety.
There had been no definite sightings of Ms Jackson, known as Cris or Crissie, since Saturday, March 2, when she was last seen at her home in The Crescent, Chester-le-Street.
Police say there has been no activity on her mobile phone for several days and her Facebook page has not been updated during that time.
More than 40 officers and specialist staff are now working on a number of lines of inquiry to try to trace her.
They are also making ongoing house-to-house inquiries in and around Chester-le-Street.
Det Supt Ken Donnelly said: “Our main focus is on finding Pamela, and we have a number of leads to follow up in our continuing search for her.
“However, the actions we have carried out so far give us genuine reason to suspect she may have come to harm.
“We currently have a man in custody helping us with our inquiries.”
Ms Jackson is not currently employed due to health issues.
As well as Joe, she has two other adult sons, Andrew and Christopher.
She is 5ft tall and slim, with long black hair, usually straight.
She has a black rose tattoo on her upper right arm and large Celtic-style letters on her upper left arm.
She usually wears what is described as vintage-style clothing with rings and costume jewellery.
Anyone who might have seen her in the last seven days, or who has any information which could help the police, is asked to ring them on 101 ext 69191 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.