This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Detectives investigating the disappearance of a midwife are carrying out searches in rural Stoke-on-Trent.

Samantha Eastwood was last seen leaving work after her night shift at Royal Stoke University hospital eight days ago. Investigators are now searching an area of Caverswall, about seven miles from the hospital, for signs of the 28-year-old, Staffordshire police said.

“Today’s extensive searches are part of the ongoing investigation, which has officers and staff working round the clock in an effort to find anything which brings us closer to finding Samantha,” said Det Supt Simon Duffy.

The announcement comes a day after Gemma Eastwood, Samantha’s sister, broke down in tears at a public appeal for information on Friday. “Get her home,” she said, as she appealed for any information about her “best friend and partner in crime”.

“Without her, half of me has gone,” she said. “If she’s out there, or anyone knows where she is, please get in touch.”

Police are looking into claims that a scream was heard from Eastwood’s home on the day she disappeared. “It forms part of one of a number of theories and ongoing investigations,” Duffy said.

CCTV footage released by police shows Eastwood, dressed in a blue uniform and carrying a green handbag, leaving work at the hospital with a colleague and getting into her Volvo XC60 car at 7.45am on Friday 27 July. A second CCTV camera then captures her vehicle heading towards the Hilton Road exit within the hospital grounds.

She has not been seen since the CCTV footage was recorded, but her car is parked outside her home in Stoke-on-Trent. Concerns continue to grow because Eastwood’s bank cards were found in her home, meaning she had no access to money, Duffy said.

Specialist search teams, including a dog support unit, have been seen at a number of addresses in north Staffordshire. A 32-year-old Stoke-on-Trent man was arrested but has since been released under investigation, police said.

Duffy, who is leading a high-risk missing persons inquiry, said the force was also looking for Eastwood’s distinctive dark-coloured Radley zip purse, which bears a multi-coloured version of the company’s dog logo and has a pink interior. Police have said it appears to be the only missing item of her property.

Detectives have been tight-lipped about whether they have recovered Eastwood’s mobile phone, adding that the information was part of their continuing investigation.

They have appealed for dashcam footage recorded in north Staffordshire over the weekend and asked the public to report any sightings of vehicles parked in unusual locations, isolated areas or laybys, no matter how inconsequential it may appear.

Eastwood is described as white, about 5ft 3in (160cm) and of medium build, with shoulder-length red hair and a fair complexion with freckles.