Police bid to trace second man who spoke to missing Swinton woman Alena

The 38-year-old Slovakian Roma, who has been missing for more than a month, is believed to have spoken to a stocky, plump man, aged beteween 30 and 50, on Scrooby Street at around 7pm after leaving the Travellers Inn, Parkgate.

South Yorkshire Police stepped up its efforts to find Alena yesterday by releasing CCTV footage of her at the Travellers Inn with a man - who has now been identified - at 6.30pm on Boxing Day.

The man shown in the footage (above) spoke to officers last night after its release and revealed where Alena went next.

Supt Iain Chorlton, investigating officer, said officers now wanted to speak to a second man who spoke to Alena that evening.

He said: "We now believe that Alena came out of the Travellers Inn pub, turned left on to Greasbrough Road, leading on to School Street, before turning right on to Scrooby Street.

“As Alena continues walking up Scrooby Street, we now have information to suggest that a man walked past her, in the opposite direction."

Supt Chorlton said the man wished Alena merry Christmas and she turned around to walk back towards Barbot Hall Road.

“The man we are now looking to identify and speak to is described as around 5ft 7ins to 5ft 9ins tall, of a stocky/plump build, between 30 to 50-years-old and wearing a dark coat and maybe a hat.

“I appreciate the description is not the most specific but I’d urge people to cast their minds back to Boxing Day evening.

"At that time - just after 7pm - Rotherham would no doubt have been busy with people enjoying the festive period.

"Did you see the man described?"

Supt Chorlton appealed to anyone who saw the man described or Alena to come forward with information.

"We now know that she was wearing a thin black sweatshirt with writing on which said something similar to ‘little black sweat', black tracksuit bottoms with white on the side and possibly sandals.

"She wasn’t wearing a coat.

“We’re grateful to everyone who has come forward with information so far but we still need more to piece together where Alena went next and who she may have seen or been in contact with since Boxing Day."

Anyone who can help should contact South Yorkshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 450 of January 15, or call the dedicated incident room directly on 01709 443540.

You can also pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.