Julia Rawson murder probe: Body discovered in Tipton
Detectives investigating the murder of a missing woman have found a body in Tipton.
Julia Rawson was last seen on May 12 and her disappearance led to a major murder investigation.
Police have now revealed a body was found by specialist officers on Wednesday in a secluded area near an industrial estate in Tipton.
Tape was put up at an entrance to a field off Coneygre Road on the Coneygre Industrial Estate.
The location is not far from where officers were searching a house in Mission Drive and canal in recent weeks.
Formal identification of the body is taking place and a post-mortem will be held soon, West Midlands Police said.
Officers have been searching for former Dudley market trader Ms Rawson for more than four weeks.
Two men have been charged with her murder.
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Police said Ms Rawson's family had been informed of the discovery.
The disappearance and presumed murder of Ms Rawson, who most recently lived in a house share with five other people in the Kates Hill area of Dudley, was met with shock by stallholders at the town's market, where she worked until around five years ago.
She later ran a shop in the Fountain Arcade and was described as “lovely” and “pleasant” by those who worked with her.
Traders in the Fountain Arcade, which runs off Dudley’s main high street, reported seeing her just days before she vanished.
Officers had been searching the area around the industrial estate before the grim discovery.