The mother of a murdered mum of five said the family would never be able to move on until she was found, as police call off the search for her body.

Beautician and mum Sarah Wellgreen, 46, vanished from her home overnight between October 9 and 10, 2018.

Her ex partner Ben Lacomba was found guilty of her murder and jailed for 27 years in November 2019 but he refused to reveal where he hid Ms Wellgreen's body.

Ms Wellgreen's sons Lewis and Jack Burdett previously pleaded for Lacomba to reveal its location.

Today (Fri) marks the second anniversary since she disappeared from the home she shared with Lacomba in New Ash Green,

Two years on from her death, officers confirmed their ongoing efforts to find her came to an end this week in what was one of the biggest searches in police history.

Mum Anne Reid said: "All the children miss their mother desperately. Some days are a real struggle.

"I find it hard to believe that Sarah has not been found as he's not that clever and every time the phone rings my heart lurches as I think 'is this the call?'

"Christmas and birthdays without Sarah for me are empty and meaningless but we carry on as ultimately Christmas is a celebration for children anyway and we make sure they have a good one.

"Life has been one long succession of children's hearings and arrangements.

"There's been so much going on in the background and so much is still unresolved.

"We just want to get closure and to get Sarah's death certificate."

Speaking of the anniversary of her daughter's disappearance, Mrs Reid added: "We will light a candle for Sarah and remember the vibrant beautiful woman she was and how lucky we were to have her in our lives."

Despite the police investigation coming to an end, Mrs Reid thanked officers and public search teams for their "amazing" work.

Meanwhile the Search For Sarah Wellgreen Community Group have vowed to continue hunting for her body.

Hope remains that their efforts will yield success and that of a forthcoming TV documentary on Sky Crime will invigorate public interest in the case and bring new information to light.

Group team leader Sharon Brine said: "We keep starting at the beginning and see if two years later on we can think of anything different.

"Our feeling is he's not that clever; he's just been lucky. That's our unanimous feeling. We all feel pretty conclusively that she's right under our nose. We'll keep looking until we find her."

Regarding the end of the police search, she added: "I think the money has probably run out.

"On a personal level they're all committed but in reality it's not that easy. I don't doubt that with everyone who was involved, they will never stop looking."

Taxi driver Lacomba was sentenced to 27 years in jail in November 2019.

While he had insisted he stayed home on the night Ms Wellgreen disappeared, evidence proved he had left the house before travelling to an unknown location that night.

DCI Ivan Beasley, of the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, appealed to Lacomba to speak up about the location of Ms Wellgreen's body.

He said: "Although it is now two years since Sarah Wellgreen disappeared from her home in New Ash Green, the pain and anguish experienced by her children and other family members is still very raw and will likely remain with them for the rest of their lives,.

"We recently made the difficult decision to bring an end to the active search for Sarah, which was one of the biggest in the history of modern policing.

"Sadly we have not yet found Sarah but there is one person who knows of her whereabouts - the man convicted of her murder, Ben Lacomba, who was sentenced to life with a minimum jail term of 27 years last November.

"If he has a shred of decency left and feels anything for Sarah's grieving family, including the children they shared together, then I would appeal to him to have the courage to speak up and tell us where she is. It is not too late to do the right thing."

Despite the active police search coming to an end, the force will still follow up new leads in the case.

DCI Beasley added: "Although the active search for Sarah has now concluded, we will continue to follow up any new information we receive in the hope that her family can finally lay her to rest.

"We will never give up hope of one day finding out what happened to Sarah so they can give her the proper goodbye she deserves."