Exclusive:Fear and hope in Aston as police dig up remote pond in search for tragic Teresa Shephard
“I feel horrible. I hope they don’t find anything, but I hope they do for the sake of the family”
Aston residents say they feel “horrible” knowing the remains of a young woman could have been lying in a remote pond in a wheat field for 31 years.
Police first spoke to locals about the search for Teresa Shephard on Friday when officers are understood to have said: “We have looked at every angle and it all leads back to the pond.”
Since then a huge operation has focused on the wooded site in the middle of a 50-acre field off Worksop Road.
On Monday, 11 police vans and a forensics tent were at the site, a resident said.
A drone was flown over the area and a spaniel sniffer dog taken out of a van periodically and let off the lead.
Two skips have been filled with discarded farm items, metal sheeting, pieces of concrete and bushes.
Blue and white police tape has been strung around the site.
One detective is understood to have said they would be there “for as long as it takes,” and it could be three weeks.
A local, who asked not to be named, said: “I feel horrible. I hope they don’t find anything, but I hope they do for the sake of the family.”
A public footpath runs part way up one side of the field before turning off to Aston.
On the other side is a footpath to Ulley. But there is no public access to the pond.
Thirty years ago farmers are understood to have had problems with vehicles driving up the field to a mast and viewpoint.
Some 20 years ago a gate was fitted which blocked access.
In 1995, when Teresa went missing, the pond was 5ft deep, The Star has been told.
This year it appears only mud is left for officers to dig out in their quest to end 31 years of agony for her family.