Darren hasn’t been seen since Saturday, April 12

Essex Police have released an appeal searching for a man who is currently missing from Colchester. Darren Gillanders, 53, was reported missing shortly after 11.40pm on Sunday, April 12.

He hasn’t been seen since the day before (Saturday, April 11). Darren is described as being 5’10, medium build and bald.

He was last seen wearing a blue North Face tracksuit, white Reebok Classics, a black ‘man bag’, and black glasses. Police believe he may have been in or around Ipswich in Suffolk and the Cambridge and Newmarket areas of Cambridgeshire.

You should call 999 quoting incident 1238 of 12 April if you have seen him, are with him, or have any information about where he might.

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A popular trainee police officer died by suicide after crashing his car into a tree at almost 100 mph, an inquest has ruled.

Louie Day likely died ‘instantly’ and was thrown from his vehicle when it crashed on the A414 near Ongar, Essex, in the early hours of September 5 last year.

Experts estimate that Louie was ‘probably driving between 96 and 99 mph’ when it collided with the tree, Essex coroners’ court heard.

At the time, the 23-year-old was training as a response officer with the Metropolitan Police on the East Area Command, based from Barking and Dagenham. He had been a PCSO for two years beforehand.

There were no witnesses to the crash, but a passerby found Louie ‘lying on the floor’ having been thrown out of the car, EssexLive reported.

He was sitting on, rather than under his seatbelt and suffered multiple injuries to his head, chest and abdomen, the inquest heard.

An inquest into his death at Chelmsford on Thursday February 26 heard that Louie had left a ‘note of intention’ before his death.

Michelle Brown, area coroner for Essex, said: ‘Louie Day from Brentwood died on September 5, 2025, on the A414 near King Street due to multiple injuries (head, chest and abdomen) sustained as a result of a road traffic collision as the driver and only occupant, leaving a note of intent.

‘The conclusion is one of suicide.’

Medical examinations found no evidence of drugs or alcohol in his system, the inquest heard.

A delivery driver saw Louie’s car shortly before the crash.

In a witness statement they said a car travelling towards them did a three-point turn in the middle of the road which seemed ‘unusual’.

‘After it turned round, it looked like it was speeding away. It must have been doing faster than 40mph,’ they said.

‘As I drove on I saw smoke and mist in the road and then saw bits of car and realised something had happened,’ the driver added.

In a statement, Louie’s family said: ‘It is with the greatest sadness that we announce the passing of our son, Louie Day, a beautiful soul who has left this world and will be greatly missed by all who loved him.’

Louie’s death is one of a number to have occurred on the A414 between Chelmsford and Harlow.

Work is ongoing to make the road safer and reduce serious collisions, including the installation of new average speed cameras.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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