'The Office' Alum's Sister-In-Law Found Dead Over 10 Days After Being Reported Missing

The Office alum Mackenzie Crook is mourning the loss of his sister-in-law Laurel Aldridge after she was reported missing on Feb 14. According to Sky News , the 62-year-old was reported missing from her home in Walberton West Sussex. Crook tried to aid the search by raising awareness and making public appeals to find Aldridge, his wife's older sister.

Crook is best known for his roles in The Office and Pirates of the Caribbean and used his notoriety to make a public comment and hopefully fuel the search a bit more. He appeared on Good Morning Britain this past Tuesday to address the search and appeal for help.

"It's a week now. It was this time last Tuesday that she left the house with nothing but the clothes she was wearing. No keys, money, phone. And she's not been seen since," Crook told the show, noting that it had been a week since her last sighting and had been missing chemotherapy sessions in recent weeks. Aldridge was diagnosed with cancer in 2022. "There's so many wooded areas. It's quite overwhelming. We've been combing the woodlands for a week now. We can only think that, yes, she's gone. She's hopefully taken shelter in a back garden in the shed, in an outhouse or something. That's what we're hoping."

According to Sky News, Sussex Police had searched 11 days for Aldridge, ending the search on Saturday after discovering a body in the Tortington Lane area of the town. After the search, the body was tested for identification purposes and confirmed to be Aldridge on Thursday. Her son, Matthew Aldridge, posted a statement online after the identity was confirmed.

"After a long and exhausting search, today we found Laurel. We can share that she was found lying in a beautiful woodland and she is now at peace. We will miss her every day, but we are so proud of everything she achieved in her 62 years on this earth," Aldridge wrote. "We as a family are broken by what has happened, but we have each other, we have our friends, and we have the support of the local community, who have so kindly rallied around us during this difficult time. We will never forget what you have done for us."

The statement closed with an appeal for privacy to allow the family to "process our loss" in the wake of the tragic discovery.