‘Check your gardens’: Police urge Newcastle residents to look in backyard for missing pensioner

Officers are asking people in Wallsend to check their gardens and outhouses in a bid to help locate missing pensioner Ronnie Brown.

The 81-year-old is believed to have left his home in the Bracken Avenue area yesterday (Sunday) at around 7 am and returned to the area at around 9 am. However, it is unclear if he re-entered his home and he was not seen by family. Searches are ongoing in the area to locate Ronnie and officers currently carrying out extensive door-to-door enquiries and have developed a base at the Coast Way Shopping Centre car park in Wallsend.

Superintendent Sam Rennison, of Northumbria Police, said: “Our enquiries to find Ronnie are extensive. We have officers and volunteers on the ground actively searching but we’re now asking people in the wider Wallsend area to check their gardens and outhouses, in case Ronnie has mistakenly entered someone’s garden and became lost.

“And anyone in the wider area who has not yet checked their CCTV footage, is asked to please review it as soon as possible.”

Ronnie is described as a white male, 5’2 and of a medium build. He is believed to be wearing a dark jacket, burgundy jumper and Sketchers trainers. He might be carrying a bag for life. Anyone with any sightings or information – no matter how small – is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of their website or by calling 101 quoting log NP-20221106-0821.