Neighbours' hopes that missing couple Peter and Sylvia Stuart would be found safe and well were dashed last night as a body was discovered in woodland near their home.
Speaking earlier in the day, a female neighbour in her 70s, who did not want to be named, said: 'I have been here 10 years and they were here before me. I think they came from Essex and were not local to the area.
'It is a bit worrying to hear what has been happening. I don't really want to think about it. It is a mystery. I just don't want to hear that anything bad has happened to them.'
Another couple in Mill Lane had seen the Stuarts at the end of last month at the Budgens store in Harleston.
The couple, aged 73 and 70, said they did not have much contact with the Stuarts except to say hello when passing along Mill Lane.
The 73-year-old man, who did not wish to be named, said: 'We last saw them at Budgens in Harleston last month and they seemed fine. They are always pleasant.'
His wife said: 'I just hope nothing has happened to them. We have had a helicopter flying over and police in the road.
'You don't want to see that in the road you live.'
A mile away in the centre of Weybread there was also shock at the disappearance of Mr and Mrs Stuart and the heavy police presence.
Ray Stewart, 55, who lives on the main road through the village, said he knew of the couple.
He said: 'It does seem strange they have gone missing. I am quite surprised it has happened in a small village like this. It does seem out of the normal.'
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