THE former partner of missing mother-of-five Sarah Wellgreen was tonight charged with her murder.

Ben Lacomba, 38, was re-arrested at his home in New Ash Green, near Dartford, Kent today on suspicion of her murder.

He was questioned by Kent Police detectives at a north Kent police station throughout the day and was charged with her murder.

Police have so far not found a body or Sarah's missing black iPhone 4 despite extensive specialist searches since she vanished on October 9.

Sarah, 46, has not been in touch with her family or friends since she vanished and, significantly, missed the 13th birthday of one of her sons.

Police have been treating her disappearance as suspicious and a potential murder inquiry.

Ben Lacomba has been charged with murderBut today they revealed they were now treating the case as a murder investigation.

December 14 was her 47th birthday.

Lacomba, a taxi driver, from Bazes Shaw, New Ash Green, who is the father of three of Sarah's children, is due to appear before magistrates in Chatham, Kent tomorrow morning.

A Kent Police spokesman said tonight: "Detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, with authorisation from the Crown Prosecution Service, have charged Ben Lacomba, aged 38, from Bazes Shaw, New Ash Green, with the murder of Sarah Wellgreen.

"Mr Lacomba, who was arrested on October 16 in connection with the investigation, was re-arrested on December 20 2018.

"He has been charged with murder and is remanded to appear by video link before Medway Magistrates’ Court at 10am on Friday December 21."

The taxi driver's Vauxhall was taken away from the front of the property this afternoon.

They shared the home in New Ash Green for the sake of their three children.

Her car was left at her house and there have not been any transactions on her bank or credit cards.

Police have searched woodland, a section of the River Thames and land near the Bluewater Shopping Centre as part of their search.

Her iPhone 4 has never been traced and detectives are also combing local CCTV within a five-mile radius of Sarah's home.

Head of Major Crime, Detective Superintendent Paul Fotheringham said in October: "We are investigating the disappearance of Sarah. It is entirely out of character for her to go missing and having conducted extensive inquiries and searches, this case is now being treated as a potential murder.

"Sarah has disappeared without a trace, the only item missing from the home is her black iPhone 4. Officers have conducted extensive searches in New Ash Green and surrounding rural areas.

"While we continue our investigation and inquiries, I would urge anybody who saw anything suspicious in the New Ash Green area at around the time Sarah went missing, that is overnight from the evening of Tuesday October 9, into the morning of Wednesday October 10, to contact us."

A Kent Police spokesman said: "Detectives investigating the disappearance of Sarah Wellgreen have re-arrested a man on suspicion of murder.

"Following information received by the investigation team, a further search of a property in New Ash Green is being carried on 20 December 2018.

"The man, in his 30s, was previously arrested on 16 October in connection with the investigation."