A tip off has today sparked a fresh search for the remains of murdered Tina Baker who mysteriously disappeared almost two decades ago, amid fears by detectives that her body had been fed to pigs.
Police, specialist forensic teams and the Army are today digging-up ground in a Surrey village, three miles away from the farm Mrs Baker shared with her ex-SAS solider husband Martin Gerald Baker.
Mr Baker was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years in 2006 after being convicted of her murder. He is currently still in prison.
Mrs Baker went missing after going to the farm four years earlier, in July 2002. Her body has never been found.
Detectives at the time feared that the 41-year-old was thrown to the pigs at the couple’s farm in Chobham.
Today, Surrey Police have confirmed they will dig land near Priest Lane, Bisley, on the border of the Woking and Surrey Heath boroughs throughout this week as part of the latest search for their remains.
Police say the latest search, on farmland at the back of Ministry of Defence (MOD) land, follows a tip-off.
Police, specialist forensic teams and the Army are today digging-up ground in a Surrey village, 10 miles away from the farm Ms Baker shared with her ex-SAS solider husband Martin Gerald Baker, who was jailed in 2006 after being convicted of her murder
Tina Baker (pictured right) went missing from her Surrey home in July 2002, with her former SAS soldier husband Martin Gerald Baker (pictured left) jailed for life in 2006 for her murder
Today, Surrey Police have confirmed they will dig land near Priest Lane, Bisley, on the border of the Woking and Surrey Heath boroughs throughout this week as part of a search for their remains
However police have refused to give any further details about what or where the new information has come from.
Detective Inspector Chris Rambour from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said: ‘The investigative work around Tina Baker’s death has continued since 2006 and we have received information which has resulted in our decision to carry out further investigation at this location in Bisley.
‘Surrey Heath Borough Council are aware of the activity taking place and Surrey Police will be assisted by the British Army.
‘We wanted to make local residents aware of the reasons for the increased police presence in the area and apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused.
‘However, it is extremely important to us that we do everything we can to provide answers and closure for Tina’s family and friends, and our thoughts remain with them at this difficult time.’
Mrs Baker was initially reported missing after last being seen in Sunbury on July 8 2002. But the investigation became a murder enquiry in October 2002.
Detectives found no trace of Mrs Baker, despite an extensive search – including checking if she made off after winning the lottery.
The pig’s swill and manure were checked after Mr Baker’s first wife, Gillian Hopkins, told police he had threatened her before their divorce.
Detectives investigating Mrs Baker’s disappearance at the time believed she may have been fed to the pigs at the couple’s farm near Chobham. Police are digging up Priest Lane in Bisley this week as part of a new search for her body
In 2005, following an extensive investigation by the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, Mr Baker was arrested and charged with her murder.
The following year, he appeared at the Central Criminal Court in London where he was sentenced to 14 years behind bars.
The jury heard that Baker killed his wife when she began an affair with an old school friend, Derek Poplett, from Sunbury, and told him she wanted a divorce.
Baker, then a 54-year-old engineer, feared he would lose the £100,000 14-acre Brookfield Farm in nearby Chobham after Mrs Baker walked out on him, the Old Bailey heard.
Mrs Baker went to the farm on July 8, 2002, to feed her animals and was never seen again.
In 2008, Baker lost an appeal against the murder conviction after three judges at London’s Court of Appeal ruled the original Old Bailey conviction was safe.
Following the conviction, enquiries continued by Surrey Police in order to find out what happened to Tina Baker’s body.