Sussex Police have confirmed that a body discovered in Hassocks on Sunday has been formally identified as that of 38-year-old mother-of-two, Rebecca “Becky” Holdham, ending a week-long search that mobilised officers, specialist teams and local volunteers across the Mid Sussex village and surrounding countryside. In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, police said: “The body of a woman found in Hassocks on Sunday 14 September has been formally identified as 38-year-old Rebecca Holdham. Rebecca’s next of kin have been informed and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this extremely difficult time.” Officers added that her death is being treated as unexplained but non-suspicious and that the coroner has been informed.
Her mother, Alison, paid tribute, describing her daughter as a deeply loved parent, daughter and sister. “Becky was a devoted mother to her two daughters, a wonderful daughter and sister and much loved by her wider family. She will be sorely missed,” the family statement said. The words were released alongside the police confirmation of identity and were shared by local news outlets to acknowledge the family’s request for privacy as formal processes now move from the police to the coroner.
Holdham, known to friends as Becky, was reported missing after she was last seen around 10am on Sunday 7 September leaving an address on the Ockley Park estate in Hassocks. Police said during the search that she had links to Burgess Hill, Horsham, Worthing, Devon and Dorset, and appealed for dash-cam and doorbell footage from residents in the area. A physical description issued at the time said she was about 5ft 4in tall, with shoulder-length brown hair and a tattoo on her ankle. “We are growing increasingly concerned for Rebecca’s welfare, and are urging anyone who has seen or heard from her since Sunday morning to get in touch,” Detective Inspector Chris May of the West Sussex Missing Persons Team said in the force’s appeal, which accompanied house-to-house enquiries and CCTV checks.
As days passed without a confirmed sighting, the search widened. Local reporting documented an operation that included the deployment of drones, police dogs and a helicopter, along with a visible increase in officers conducting systematic searches of fields, footpaths and woodland fringing the village. Police reiterated that Holdham was believed to have left her home on foot and released a 999 reference for urgent calls with information, asking residents to preserve any recordings from home CCTV or vehicles that might capture a relevant time window on the Sunday morning she vanished. Friends said the lack of contact was out of character and posted messages urging the public to look out for her, amplifying the official appeal.
Community efforts moved in parallel with the official operation. A large, volunteer-led search was being organised to leave from the Thatched Inn in Hassocks at 10am on Monday, with flyers circulating through neighbourhood groups and local pages over the weekend. On Sunday afternoon, however, police announced that a woman’s body had been found in the village and that Holdham’s family had been informed. At that stage, formal identification had not yet taken place; officers said enquiries were under way to confirm identity and to establish the circumstances. The timing meant the community search standing by for Monday was supplanted by the police update and the need to allow forensic procedures to proceed.
Sussex Police first disclosed the discovery late on Sunday via official channels, stating that a woman’s body had been found in Hassocks and that Holdham’s relatives had been notified in line with force policy for missing-person investigations. The update did not specify the exact location of the discovery or the circumstances, consistent with practice that prioritises next-of-kin notifications and early evidential steps before additional detail is released. The initial notice asked the public to avoid speculation while further examinations were conducted.
The formal identification on Monday set out the immediate next steps. Police confirmed that the death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious and has been referred to the coroner, who will consider the available evidence and determine whether to open an inquest at a later date. In similar cases, a coroner typically receives reports from investigating officers and any post-mortem findings before deciding how to proceed. Monday’s statement did not indicate a timeline, but the designation of “unexplained but non-suspicious” means the focus shifts from criminal inquiry to establishing cause of death for the public record, in consultation with the family.
Local outlets that carried the confirmation also published the family’s tribute in full, reflecting the approach often taken when a high-profile missing-person case reaches a conclusion without evidence of third-party involvement. Alongside the police statement, sites serving West Sussex re-stated the core details of the search: the date and time Holdham was last seen, the area of the village where she lived, and the multiple lines of enquiry pursued by officers and volunteers. Many highlighted the breadth of the community response in the days leading up to Sunday’s discovery, including searches of countryside and woodland and the readiness of residents to assemble for a coordinated effort from the village pub.
The Ockley Park estate, where Holdham was last seen, sits a short distance from Hassocks High Street and the rail line, with a network of lanes and public footpaths leading into open land on the village perimeter. During the search phase, police focused on accessible walking routes and appealed to owners of rural properties and smallholdings to check outbuildings, hedgerows and fields for any sign that might aid the inquiry. Officers also extended enquiries along roads linking Hassocks to Burgess Hill and to residential areas on the south side of the village, consistent with the stated possibility that Holdham could have walked some distance before leaving a camera’s field of view. Those lines of enquiry were reflected in the number of neighbourhoods where leaflets and images were posted on noticeboards and online groups asking residents to review recordings captured on the morning of 7 September.
Messages from friends reflected the mounting concern as the week progressed. Posts that began by urging anyone who might have seen Holdham to come forward soon took on a more urgent tone, with several saying they were “worried sick” and planning repeated sweeps of footpaths and green spaces. Local pages that routinely share police appeals carried the missing-person image and details across the week, drawing responses from residents offering to check sheds and gardens and to walk less-frequented routes between housing and the countryside. The deep local roots of Holdham’s family and the reference to her two children in official notices ensured that the appeal extended beyond Hassocks to nearby towns where she had known links.
In setting out the course of events, police and local reporters have been careful to distinguish confirmed facts from the volume of informal commentary that attends most missing-person searches. The force’s initial appeal provided a verified last-seen time and location, a physical description and a summary of steps being taken by detectives and search teams. The Sunday discovery was communicated in cautious terms pending identification, and the Monday confirmation limited itself to the essentials: identity, family notification, investigative status and referral to the coroner. That sequence—appeal, discovery notice, formal identification—is typical of cases where the evidence base needs to be assembled methodically and the family’s position respected at each stage.
The confirmation that Holdham’s death is not being treated as suspicious narrows the scope of the formal process now under way. The coroner will determine what examinations, if any, are required to establish cause of death and whether a public hearing is necessary. If an inquest is opened, an initial hearing would normally record the identification and the broad circumstances before being adjourned while pathology reports are completed. For families, this period can be among the most difficult, since the police role recedes while the coroner’s timetable proceeds at a pace designed to ensure accuracy rather than speed. Local services typically provide liaison officers to maintain contact with relatives as the case transitions into the coroner’s jurisdiction.
For Hassocks, the case has been a focal point for communal concern over the past week, with residents sharing updates and coordinating practical help. The planned Monday search underlined the degree of community organisation behind the effort to support the family and to assist police. That mobilization is a familiar pattern in rural and semi-rural settings where footpaths, bridleways and fields complicate searches and where local knowledge can be valuable in identifying routes that are not obvious from maps alone. Even as Monday’s confirmation closed the search, many of those who had been preparing to join volunteers posted messages of condolence for the family alongside expressions of thanks to the officers, dog handlers and pilots involved.
While Monday’s developments resolved the question at the heart of the search—who had been found and whether the find was connected to the missing-person inquiry—they did not address the more personal questions now confronting Holdham’s relatives. The family’s tribute emphasised her role at home and the loss felt across an extended network of relatives and friends. Police said officers are supporting the family, a standard provision in cases where a missing-person investigation ends in this way. In due course, the coroner’s office will advise the family about any hearings and about how medical findings will be communicated, but there is no set public timetable for those steps.
The police statements and family message published on Monday afternoon are likely to remain the most authoritative updates until the coroner confirms next steps. For members of the public who contributed information during the search or who offered to join the planned volunteer sweep, the confirmation of identity offers a clear, if painful, closure. For the village, it caps a week defined first by appeals and unanswered questions and now by the formalities that begin after a missing-person case becomes a matter for the coroner. Across the messages shared by friends and local organisations on Monday, a single theme recurred: gratitude to those who searched and a wish to let the family grieve in private while the remaining formal tasks are completed.
As the official notices made clear, police are not seeking further information in relation to suspicious activity; there has been no suggestion of third-party involvement. Any further public statements will be shaped by the coroner’s requirements and by the family’s wishes. For now, the core facts are unchanged from those set out by the force: a week after she was last seen leaving her home in Hassocks, the search for Rebecca Holdham ended with the discovery of a body in the village on Sunday and, a day later, the formal identification of the woman found as the 38-year-old mother-of-two. The police have recorded the case as unexplained but non-suspicious and have notified the coroner; the family has confirmed their loss in a short tribute that highlights the role she played at the centre of her household.
