Cleveland Police and North Yorkshire Police are urgently seeking the whereabouts of a man in connection with two murders in Middlesbrough and Whitby.
An 81 year old man, now named as Colin Dunford, was found dead at this home on Leven Street in Middlesbrough at 10.50pm on Monday 23rd April. A post mortem revealed he suffered serious head injuries as a result of a significant assault in his home.
Yesterday at 12.40pm, Wednesday 25th April, the body of 50 year old Julie Davison was discovered at a flat on Church Square, in Whitby. She had suffered from head injuries.
Police urgently want to trace 35 year old James Allen in connection with both murders.
Allen is known to police and they are advising anyone who comes into contact with him, not to approach him but to call police immediately. He’s described 5 foot 7 tall, with a bald head and tattoos on both arms.
Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to £5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person/s responsible for the murder of Mr Dunford.
T/Detective Chief Superintendent Gordon Lang, Head of Crime Operations for Cleveland Police said:
We now believe the Middlesbrough murder is linked to the murder that took place in Whitby yesterday. Two brutal murders in the victims’ own homes. Anyone who can carry out such callous acts needs to be caught as a matter of urgency.
We have over 100 officers working on the incident to trace Allen and we are focusing our efforts in the Cleveland and in the Whitby area of North Yorkshire area.
Anyone who sees him or who knows where he is, we would ask them to contact 999 immediately.
If you have other information that could help with either murder please contact Cleveland Police via 101 or the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Follow the progress of this story on Twitter #WhitbyMurder
