Detectives were today questioning a man arrested over the 16-month mystery disappearance of a Harrogate mother-of-two.

They were holding the man, in his late 40s, as police continued a detailed search at the Harrogate home of Marsha Wray, a 38-year-old nurse.

Mrs Wray vanished from the Forest Lane home she shared with husband Colin, 49, in January last year.

The man being held by police was arrested at 8am yesterday in a low-key operation at Knaresborough and taken to Harrogate police station.

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police, Margaret Kirk, said: "We are still conducting a search of the premises; they have been collecting all sorts of evidence.

"We are looking for all sorts of things, some of it is specific, and with other things it is just whatever we find. It could be any number of items."

She said they had not ruled out a search of the garden.

More than 40 officers spent all day probing the semi-detached property for clues. Polyethene shelters were erected over part of the driveway and garden as officers worked under heavy rain.

Shocked residents watched as a fleet of police vehicles gathered by the roadside and detectives, dressed from head-to-toe in protective clothing, traipsed in and out.

Next-door neighbour Nigel Dean expressed surprise at the investigation.

"The police arrived at around 9.30am and have been here all day.

"We know the Wray family very well and this took us completely by surprise.

"It seems strange to carry out such an extensive investigation so late in the day. She disappeared almost 18 months ago so none of what might have happened will be fresh in anyone's mind."

Mrs Wray was last spotted dropping off her young children at Hookstone County Primary school near her home.

Husband Colin, an engineer, said he had had no contact with his wife and she was reported missing by her sister in February.

Police, who contacted Interpol as part of their inquiries, have so far been unable to explain the recovery of Mrs Wray's K-reg red Metro Quest in Leeds.

Two youths were stopped while driving the vehicle. They said they found it abandoned in Hollings Lane, Headingley. Earlier it had been spotted by a police officer on a lonely country lane in the Ripley Road area of Knaresborough, three miles from her home.

North Yorkshire Police spokesman Margaret Kirk said questioning of the man, who has not been charged, was expected to continue today.

She said the case was being treated as a "major crime investigation".

"We have scenes of crime officers working at the Wray's house, but this is not the only place we have examined.

"A number of places were searched during the first few months which might give us clues to her movements.

"We have never given this investigation up, we have always been determined to discover the truth about Marsha Wray."

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