POLICE searching for a miner who disappeared nearly four years ago last night confirmed they had released without charge a fourth person arrested in connection with his murder.

A police spokesman said a 45-year-old man from Sherburn Hill, County Durham, who was arrested in November on suspicion of the murder of former miner Edward Donnelly, answered bail before being released.

Mr Donnelly, 53, vanished from the home he shared with his sister, Frances Donnelly, in Fynway, Sacriston, County Durham, on March 25, 2002.

He is missing presumed dead, although his body has never been found.

The mystery took another twist in November when his sister, his niece and his niece's husband were arrested, shortly before the 45-year-old suspect, who has not been named, was detained.

Kevin Griggs, 41, of Sacriston, was questioned on suspicion of murder. His wife, Marie Griggs, 39, of the town's Morningside, and 65-year-old sister Frances Donnelly, of nearby Dunelm Court, were questioned on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. They were released without charge.

A police spokesman said last night: "Inquiries are still ongoing. We are treating the investigation into Mr Donnelly's disappearance as a murder inquiry.

"Officers are looking for a body rather than anything else and are determined to establish what became of Mr Donnelly."

The mystery of what happened to the 53-year-old, known to family and friends as Eddie, deepened when police excavated the site of a former coal mine at Blackett's Bank, in Acorn Close Lane, Sacriston.

Last March, John Robert Pounder, 49, of Sacriston, was arrested in connection with the disappearance.

He was charged with perverting the course of justice, but was found dead in what police say were not suspicious circumstances in April.

After a tip-off, officers searched Mr Pounder's house and samples were sent for forensic examination.

At the time of Mr Donnelly's disappearance, his sister said she had returned home to find his keys, which he had posted through the letterbox, and his cheque book, cash card and other documents.

Anyone with information is asked to call 0845 60 60 365.