New picture issued of missing Rotherham woman who vanished on Boxing Day as search to find her continues

 38-year-old Alena Grlakova was last seen on Boxing Day last year, and was reported missing on January 15. 

South Yorkshire Police have been carrying out detailed searches in the Parkgate area, close to where she was last seen, over the last week, and officers have now released a picture of Alena.

Temporary Superintendent Iain Chorlton said: “We now know Alena left the Travellers Inn pub, Parkgate at around 7pm on Wednesday, December 26, with a man we have since identified and spoken to.

“She then turned left on to Greasbrough Road, leading to School Street, before turning right on to Scrooby Lane.

“A man, described as around 5ft 7ins – 5ft 9ins tall, of a stocky/plump build, between 30-50-years-old, walked past her and wished her a Merry Christmas. The man is said to have been wearing a dark coat and possibly a hat.

“Alena then turned to follow the man, walking in the same direction as him towards Barbot Hall Road.

“Our efforts to identify this man continue and we need anyone with information to come forward.

“We are continuing to follow up a number of lines of enquiry in relation to Alena’s disappearance and I’d like to stress that searches continuing at the canal behind Parkgate retail park are just one line of enquiry.

“A number of open land searches are also taking place and I’d urge anyone with information to speak to an officer while they are conducting enquiries.

“As part of our renewed appeal today, we’ve also released this new image we have of Alena.

“At the time she went missing we believe she was wearing a thin black sweatshirt with writing on it which said something similar to ‘little black sweat,’ black tracksuit bottoms with white on the side and possible sandals. She wasn’t wearing a coat.”

Anyone with information is asked to call South Yorkshire Police 101 or speak to an officer in their incident room on 01709 443540.

You can also speak to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 5555111.