Northampton murders suspect Anxiang Du 'is alive'
A note left by the main suspect in the murders of a family of four was likely to be a goodbye letter to his family rather than a suicide note, police say.
Jifeng Ding, his wife Helen Chui, and daughters Alice and Xing, were found stabbed in their home in Pioneer Close, Wootton, Northampton, on Sunday night.
Anxiang Du, 52, from Coventry, fled the scene with a substantial amount of money, police said.
Det Supt Glyn Timmins said he believed they were chasing a man on the run.
New CCTV images have been released by police showing Mr Du getting on a bus in Northampton at 1307 BST on Friday and at 1320 BST he is seen asking the driver if he had arrived at his destination near the Ding's family home in Wootton.
Det Supt Timmins said of the letter Mr Du left: "The note contained instructions to his family to look after each other and it said it was the time to say goodbye.
"I have consistently said this does not necessarily amount to a suicide note - it amounts to a note saying goodbye to his family."
He appealed for anyone who has seen the car or sold Du new clothing or transport tickets to contact them.
Mr Du is believed to have had 48 hours to get away before police found the bodies.
Det Supt Timmins said: "He would have had a two day start. We assume he is still in the country, but can't be confident of that.
"He had a significant amount of money on him. I would appeal to anyone who may have sold him clothing, footwear, a mobile phone to contact us."
Det Supt Timmins also made a nationwide appeal to people who work in ticket shops or who run hotels or bed and breakfasts to contact him.
He said his officers had spoken to the Chinese Embassy, but said there had been no trace of him going through passport control.
Police revealed on Wednesday that Mr Du felt he was owed tens of thousands of pounds by Mrs Ding but lost a court battle over their shared business interests on Thursday.
Mr Du left his home in Coventry at 1030 BST on 29 April.
He was seen arriving at Birmingham New Street Station at 1122 BST and was wearing a white baseball cap, brown waist-length coat, grey trousers, a blue woollen top and black leather shoes.
He was then seen at Northampton Station at 1235 BST.
Det Supt Timmins, who has more than 60 officers working on the case, said: "This inquiry might last days, months or years. We are not going to give up."