An inquest has today heard mum-of-three Debbie Griggs was likely killed at her family home in Deal, before being buried 170 miles away.

She was murdered by her husband Andrew in 1999 - but it was not until October 2022 that her remains were found in his former garden in St Leonard's, Dorset.

At a short hearing held at Maidstone's County Hall this morning, it was revealed that the exact circumstances of how she died may never be known.

Results from a post-mortem examination classed her death as unascertained, due to decomposition.

Sarah Clarke, the North Kent area coroner who formally opened the inquest, said: "Her body was found at an address in Dorset on October 6, 2022, following information from Dorset Police.

"She was identified by dental records.

"The circumstances are that on May 6, 1999, she was reported missing from her home, having last been seen on May 5.

"In October 2019 her husband Andrew Griggs was convicted of her murder but her body had not been found.

"It is believed her death was at her home address."

Debbie, a trained nurse, was 34-years-old at the time she vanished from her home in Cross Road, Deal, almost 24 years ago.

She was pregnant and already had three young sons aged 18 months, four and six.

A total of £250 cash and her white Peugeot 309 had gone too.

Her husband Andrew, whom she had married in 1990, had taken 24 hours to tell police.

Afterwards he told them that she had gone missing before and returned so was confident she would come back.

He said she had this time stormed out in the car after they had rowed.

It later emerged the couple's relationship had been strained for some time.

Public appeals were put out to find Debbie and days after the disappearance the vehicle was found 1.3 miles from the family home.

Her blood was found inside it but no further trace of her was found. Her bank accounts sat dormant and she did not interact with the health service or social security.

Police eventually began to realise Griggs had a motive to kill Debbie.

She had learned he was involved in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl, and did not seem willing to cover up for him.

A judge at the murder trial 20 years later concluded he had groomed the child.

The couple together ran the Griggs Freezer Centre in South Street, Deal. It is believed her husband feared he could lose half if she divorced him over the involvement with the teenager.

In 2019 and following a review of the case, Griggs, who had remarried and moved with his sons to Dorset, was charged over Debbie's death.

He was put on trial accused of murdering his wife and disposing of her body.

A jury at Canterbury Crown Court found him guilty in October 2019 and he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder and made to serve a minimum of 20 years.

In 2020 the former couple’s three sons, Jeremy, Jake and Luke, launched a social media page called "Find our Mum," believing she was was still alive and their father was innocent.

But two years later, on October 17, 2022, Kent Police revealed Debbie's remains had been found buried in a garden in Dorset.

This was at the property Griggs had moved to in 2001 and officers had taken the new action based on "information received".

It is not known how Debbie came to be in the garden and when.

Miss Clarke said the date for resuming the inquest was still to be confirmed.