Sock missing in Joanna Yeates murder case

ONE of murder victim Joanna Yeates's socks was missing when her body was discovered and has still not been found, police confirmed today.

• Senior Investigating Officer Phil Jones displays a sock similar to the one Joanna Yeates was wearing when she was found

Miss Yeates, 25, was not wearing her coat or boots either but those items were found at her home in Bristol, Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones said.

The landscape architect was last seen walking back to her rented flat in the Clifton area of Bristol after going for drinks with colleagues on December 17.

Her snow-covered body was found on Christmas Day in a lane three miles from her home. She had been strangled.

In a statement, Mr Jones said: "I would emphasise that this is a complex investigation and it is being meticulously investigated."

Holding up a bag containing a long, ski-style grey sock of a similar size and colour to the one worn by Miss Yeates, he said: "I am here this morning to talk to you about a missing sock.

"When Jo was found on Christmas Day morning in Longwood Lane, although she was fully clothed, she was not wearing her jacket, she was not wearing her boots and she was only wearing one sock.

"The jacket and the boots have been found at her home address.

"That would indicate that Jo had returned home.

"However, at this present time the sock has not been found. It hasn't been found at Longwood Lane and it hasn't been found at her home address."

Holding up a box containing the sock, Mr Jones said: "The sock itself is similar to this - similar in colour.

"This is a ski-type sock and this would fit a size five, which was Jo's shoe size.

"I would emphasise that this is similar in colour to the sock that we have found on Jo and the sock that it is missing."

Mr Jones said that CCTV footage published in a newspaper, which had been taken from a camera at the Hophouse pub in Clifton, was viewed "very early" in the inquiry.

But the detective confirmed that it might be the last known sighting of Miss Yeates.

"It is of very poor quality, the CCTV footage, and there is other CCTV footage in the area, for example Tesco Express, which we have circulated," he said.

"That provides a very good image of Jo and is corroborated with the fact that Jo was in the shop at that time and the purchase that she made."

Today, police revealed that since an advert was placed on Facebook yesterday it had been viewed nearly 250,000 times and hundreds of people have clicked through to the police's contact form.

There have also been more than 70,000 views of the appeal on the Avon and Somerset Police website and more than 120,000 people have watched CCTV of Miss Yeates placed on YouTube.

Since Monday's appeal, there have been another 267 calls made to the incident room, as well as 75 emails and other calls to Crimestoppers.

"I would still encourage the public to view the CCTV footage," Mr Jones said.

"It is a very good CCTV image of Jo and the clothing she was wearing that night and I would appeal for anybody that might have seen Jo that evening walking from the Ram public house to her home address in Canynge Road to please contact us."