Vanessa "Nessa" Warner was the sister of Cathy Matthews and mother of Alex Warner who first turned up in Weatherfield in October 2015 when son Alex went missing. This was a normal occurrence for Nessa except this time he wasn't answering her calls on his mobile phone. Nessa went to see her sister Cathy to see if he was with her, but when Nessa reached Cathy, Alex was not there. Nessa broke down in tears and sat down at a table in Roy's Rolls. She was comforted by Cathy and her partner, Roy Cropper. Later Nessa, Cathy, Roy, Ken Barlow and Audrey Roberts all fanned out to try and find Alex. He was discovered safe and sound drinking in the Rovers. By the end of the day, Nessa had taken a shine to Ken.