THE father of missing teenager Dinah McNicol has spoken of his agony and desperation for answers as police continue to search a Kent property for human remains.

The 18-year-old, from Tillingham, Essex, disappeared after leaving a music festival in Hampshire in the summer of 1991. A reappraisal of her case led Essex Police to the house in Irvine Drive, Margate.

Ian McNicol said: "When someone dies you go to a funeral, go through a mourning period. My wife Judy died in a car accident 10 years before Dinah went missing.

"I still think about her every day but you come to terms with it eventually. When someone goes missing you don't have that, there's just a lot of questions."

He added: "I felt very low, suicidal for a while. The worst thing is having someone missing and people asking how you feel. The pain never leaves you."

"I haven't moved on - I've remained in this house in case she comes back and haven't changed the phone number in case she tries to call."