FIFTY detectives are involved in searching for the killer of 86-year-old Wisbech widow Una Crown, whose body was found at the bungalow where she lived alone on Sunday morning.

Making a direct appeal for information, Detective Chief Inspector Jon Hutchinson said: “Our priority is to catch the person responsible for this brutal killing and we will use every tactic available to us.

“We are continuing with house to house inquiries in Magazine Lane in an attempt to identify any more witnesses. We would make a direct appeal to anyone with information to contact us on 101.

“We know Mrs Crown was last seen by her family at 11am on Friday, and we believe she was spoken to by a friend on the telephone at 6pm on Saturday.

“So we have narrowed her time of death down, to between 6pm on Saturday and 10.45am on Sunday morning, when she was discovered by family members when they came to check on her.

“Understandably the family is traumatised and is receiving support from specialist police officers.

“The forensic investigation is ongoing, with a post mortem on Tuesday at Peterborough City Hospital identified that she was murdered and this was the result of a brutal assault.

“We have launched a major investigation with up to 50 detectives involved from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, working closely alongside local officers from the Safer Neighbourhood Team.

“We are doing a number of further searches and checks at the property to find out if there was a break in or forced entry, that is one line of investigation we are looking at.

“It is early days and we are piecing together the jig saw to discover what happened. A cordon remains around the house and officers will be visible conducting inquiries and providing reassurance to the local community.”