DFJ
NOT NOW SILENT SINGER!!!
Registered: Feb 2003
Posts: 40347 - Threads: 977
Location:
|
For those of you too tight to subscribe to The Times:
The search for missing schoolgirl Tia Sharp became a murder inquiry this evening after police found a body at her grandmother’s house.
The find was made public three hours after detectives cordoned off the area to begin a full search of the house on the New Addington estate near Croydon, South London.
Tia was last seen at the house a week ago and Stuart Hazell, 37, the man who claimed to have witnessed her leave to go shopping, was named tonight as the key suspect.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “A murder enquiry has been launched after a body was found at 20 The Lindens, New Addington, following a search of the property this afternoon. Enquiries are also underway to establish the identity of the body.
“We are seeking to find Stuart Hazell to be interviewed in connection with this case. He should not be approached and if seen people should call 999 immediately. There have been no arrests in connection with this investigation at this time”
Mr Hazell is the partner of Christine Sharp, Tia’s grandmother.
In an interview with ITV News earlier this week, Mr Hazell referred to how his “shady past” - a reference to a number of previous convictions - had led to people “pointing the finger”.
Directly appealing to the schoolgirl he said: “Tia come home babe, come and eat your dinner ... we love you come back babe, please.”
Uniformed officers earlier cleared the media pack which has been encamped on the doorstep of Tia’s grandmother, Christine Sharp, for a week and established a cordon to allow scenes of crime examiners to enter the house.
Scotland Yard said the search was “pre-planned” but the move was brought forward following a “concerning” development in the investigation.
Tia was last seen at the house on Friday August 3. Ms Sharp, 46, and other members of the family who have gathered there - including Tia’s mother Natalie Sharp, 30, and stepfather David Niles, 29 - vacated the property at the request of police.
Just before police moved in, Tia’s grandmother said: “We will help the police and anybody and everybody else in every way I can, so will every member of my family,” she said. “We are going to cause them no obstruction whatsoever. Whatever they want to do they can do it, no problem. I just want my baby back.”
Tia lived in ther grandmother’s house as a baby and was a frequent visitor at weekends and during school holidays. She arrived there on Thursday August 2 and spent the evening in the care of Mr Hazell while her grandmother was working a night shift as a care support worker.
Mr Hazell has said that Tia left the house around noon the next day, after helping him with household chores, and said she was going to the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon to buy flip-flops. A near neighbour has given police a statement saying that he also saw Tia leave the house.
No CCTV images were recovered of Tia boarding a bus or a tram to go shopping in Croydon.
The search of the house was the climax of a week of intensive police and media activity on the estate, an island of terraced houses on a hillside near Croydon. Houses, shops, cars, bus stops and lamp posts are adorned with “missing” posters, displaying different images of Tia. Local people have arranged volunteer search parties to look for her or any sign of her disappearance.
A trail of candles placed by the family on Monday night to “light the way home” for Tia lines the path that leads down from the house which is now the centre of the investigation. In the front garden of another house another candle sits in a glass vase.
The estate is an area of high unemployment. It is deserted in the morning, with curtains remaining drawn until midday, but throngs in the afternoon. Workmen, who said they did not see Tia on Friday afternoon, operate throughout, children play on their bicycles and scooters and mothers return with shopping bags. The most polished shop is the local hair salon.
At the foot of the estate looms Birch Wood, a dense woodland now sealed off with police tape where police officers with dogs have been searching the undergrowth.
The relationships between police, media and family - each with a part to play in the investigation - have been tense. While the media is essential to publicising police appeals for information, some coverage has angered police and family members.
As the police search team moved in, Ms Sharp’s next-door neighbour Paul Meehan, 39, left with his partner and two children. He said: “There was no warning but it was obvious it was going to happen. I have got two young children, it is very scary for them.”
Report this post to a moderator |
IP: Logged
|
![[HarderFaster] - Work Hard, Play Harder!](/images/mainbanner_top1.gif)
10-08-2012 17:56 PM
