Shopping bags are adding more mystery to the already baffling disappearance of teacher Jane Longhurst.

As the search entered its 13th day, police still have no idea what has become of her - or her shopping.

Miss Longhurst, 31, was seen by a neighbour entering her flat in Shaftesbury Road, Brighton, carrying two bags.

Detectives are convinced the neighbour's account was accurate yet they can find no trace of the bags or their contents.

If it was food, then why were shelves in the kitchen virtually empty when police searched the flat?

Miss Longhurst and her partner Malcolm Sentance were planning to decorate a room. If the bags contained paint and materials, then where are they now?

One detective involved in the case said: "We're scratching our heads. There was no sign of a break-in so was she snatched in the street?

"If Jane was abducted inside or outside the house it still doesn't explain where the shopping has got to. Where did she shop and what did she buy?"

Mr Sentance and her family are convinced Miss Longhurst did not walk away from her life. She had only her purse, keys and mobile phone with her.

None of her credit cards have been used and her phone is switched off or its battery has run dry.

The worst possible scenario for police is she fell victim to a stranger abductor/attacker, one who has so far left no clues.

British Transport Police yesterday continued searching railway embankments near London Road station, a five-minute walk from Miss Longhurst's home. Her family are waiting anxiously for news.

Her mother Liz Longhurst is not looking forward to Mother's Day on Sunday.

She said: "It will be difficult. Jane would normally call. We are in limbo and it is horrible. All we can do is take each day as it comes. I try to block out thoughts of what might have happened.

"The thought of one of my children disappearing has always given me the horrors but I thought it was something that happened to other people. I wouldn't wish it on anybody."

Mrs Longhurst and her second daughter Sue Barnett, both from Reading, speak to Mr Sentance daily.

Miss Barnett, eight years older than her sister, also dials her sister's mobile every day. She said: "I phone, but there's nothing - it is switched off, but I haven't given up."

The sisters had spent a weekend together in Brighton at the beginning of this month. Their father Bill died in October 2000 of Alzheimer's disease.

Mrs Longhurst last spoke to her daughter two days before she disappeared on March 14.

Miss Longhurst, a viola player and teacher at Uplands school for children with learning difficulties in Hollingdean, Brighton, later emailed her mother with an advertisement for a concert she should have performed in Lewes last Saturday.

Miss Longhurst's seat was left empty at the concert and prayers were said for her safe return.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts or her shopping should contact the Operation Keen incident room at Brighton police station on 0845 6070999.