MISSING FOR NEARLY A MONTH — THEN A BLACK CAR WAS SPOTTED HIDDEN DOWN AN EMBANKMENT

For nearly a month, 57-year-old Tracey Smith had been missing.

She was last seen on July 24, leaving her home in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, driving her black Fiat Panda.

Her disappearance sparked an increasingly urgent search, with police eventually turning their attention to finding the car itself.

Then, on August 18, a member of the public noticed something hidden in thick undergrowth.

A black vehicle was sitting down an embankment near the A172 and A19 junction by Cleveland Tontine.

Police were called to the scene.

Inside the wrecked vehicle, officers discovered a deceased person.

THE CAR POLICE HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR

Investigators had recently released CCTV showing Tracey driving away from her home on the morning she disappeared.

They appealed specifically to walkers, runners, cyclists and hikers to keep an eye out for her black Fiat Panda, believing locating the vehicle could help establish what had happened to her.

That appeal ultimately led to the discovery.

The vehicle had been concealed from view in vegetation down the embankment, making it difficult to spot from the road.

Police now believe the deceased person is Tracey, although formal identification has not yet taken place.

WHAT HAPPENED TO HER CAR?

The discovery has answered one devastating question — but raised another.

How did Tracey’s car leave the road and end up hidden down the embankment?

North Yorkshire Police have launched an investigation into exactly how the vehicle came to leave the road.

Forensic officers spent much of the day examining the scene before the vehicle could be recovered, with the difficult location making the operation more complicated.

At this stage, police have not publicly established the circumstances surrounding Tracey’s death.

A FAMILY’S MONTH-LONG WAIT

Tracey’s disappearance had remained deeply concerning to her family and friends.

For weeks, police appealed to the public for information, particularly anyone who might have seen her distinctive black Fiat Panda in remote areas around the North York Moors and Cleveland Hills.

Now, that search has ended with a heartbreaking discovery.

A missing woman.

A car hidden beneath the roadside vegetation.

And a family waiting for answers about what happened during the weeks Tracey was gone.

Police have thanked members of the public who assisted with the search, including the person whose report ultimately led officers to the vehicle.

The investigation continues as detectives work to establish how the crash happened and the circumstances surrounding Tracey’s death.

Formal identification is still pending. The circumstances remain under investigation, and police have not publicly established that the death was suspicious.