Second man arrested as search for missing woman continues

Police investigating the disappearance of Co Antrim woman Chloe Mitchell have arrested a second man.

The 34-year-old was detained in the Ballymena area on Saturday morning.

Ms Mitchell, 21, was last seen on CCTV in the early hours of June 3 in Ballymena town centre.

A major search operation continued in the town on Saturday.

A 26-year-old man was arrested in Lurgan, Co Armagh, on Thursday in connection with the case.

Police have secured a 36-hour extension to his detention period.

Several of the searches have focused on the area around the Braid River in the Co Antrim town.

The Community Search and Rescue organisation has been assisting police in the operation.

On Saturday, officers made a renewed appeal for information about Ms Mitchell’s disappearance.

PSNI Mid and East Antrim District Commander Superintendent Gillian Kearney said: “Police are becoming increasingly concerned about Chloe’s safety and we have launched a criminal investigation into her disappearance.

“It is completely out of character for her to not be in contact with her family, who are being supported by specialist officers during this worrying time.

“I am appealing to anyone who was travelling through the James Street area in Ballymena from 10pm on Friday, June 2 and 5.40pm on Thursday, June 8 to think if they saw Chloe or anything unusual.

“I would also appeal for anyone with dashcam footage during this period to bring it to police.

“Chloe was last seen wearing a green and black Northface-style jacket, a white T-shirt, leggings and Nike trainers.”

Around 70 to 80 volunteers with the Community Rescue Service were involved in Saturday’s searches where teams concentrated on thick undergrowth on the banks of the River Braid in Ballymena.

Darren Harper, a district commander with the Community Rescue Service, said the operation was “challenging”.

“We have a substantial amount of volunteers on the ground at the minute,” he told the PA news agency.

“We are rotating them more frequently than what we usually we do, given the temperature here today – it’s about 19 to 20 degrees so it’s important that we rotate them and get them water on board and look after their welfare while maintaining the search.”

Mr Harper praised the local community in Ballymena, which he said had been bringing food and drink down for the search volunteers.

“The community has been absolutely fantastic,” he said.

The district commander insisted the volunteers were committed to continuing the search.

“We’re still looking for a high-risk missing person and we will continue until Chloe is located or until the police deem that we are no longer needed,” he said.