Robert Duff has been missing for the last 7 years but in 2018, new information led detectives to believe he was murdered. The police are now searching the No.1 pond in Hampstead Heath for his body.

 

Mr Duff, who was 37 when he disappeared, was from Kentish town. The police were notified of his disappearance on 12 January 2013, after he failed to turn up to his daughter’s 18th birthday party. 

 

On Tuesday, divers resumed the search for the missing man who is a father of two. After a tip-off, police have been investigating bodies of water, near the area where Mr Duff was last seen. They began with searching a pond in Waterlow Park, Highgate but now, police believe his remains might be in the No.1 pond (known as the ‘dog pond’) in Hampstead Heath. They began trawling this pond two weeks ago, and are continuing to search for anything connected to the investigation into Mr Duff’s suspected murder. 

 

Mr Duff's mother said that the prospect of his remains being in "a pond I walk past regularly is quite upsetting". His family have been fairly critical of the way the police have carried out their investigation, saying, "It feels like a lot of time has been wasted and evidence lost." His daughters Stephanie and Charlotte have watched anxiously from the pond banks each time, and urge anyone who has information to "have a heart and come forward.”

 

In 2018, information from a previous appeal led officers to launch a murder investigation. In May that year, two men aged 51 and 70, were arrested on suspicion of murder in Archway. They were later released under investigation.

 

The Met has worked on the theory that Mr Duff was involved in a fight with two men on the day he vanished and was then killed, later that evening. That night several people saw him in a flat on Bredgar Road in Archway, north London.

 

Deputy Inspector Tom Williams said: "My team remains committed to finding Robert and providing the answers that his family are so desperately longing for. This work will continue over the coming weeks."