Murder squad called in after child's body found
Murder squad detectives in Britain said today they were trying to trace a number of people in connection with the death of a 10-year-old girl.
Lauren Pilkington-Smith was found dead in a patch of woodland near the Leeds-Liverpool Canal close to her home in Leigh, Greater Manchester, in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The schoolgirl had vanished shortly after 7.30pm on Thursday after spending the evening playing with friends in a nearby park.
Her distraught family joined police in a desperate late-night search for the youngster.
Lauren’s grandfather Barry Smith spotted her body hidden in bushes at the end of Sanderson Street, only 200 yards from the family home on Twist Lane.
Detective Superintendent Andy Tattersall, who is leading the investigation, said police had received a number of confirmed sightings of Lauren on Thursday evening.
He said: ““We are in the process of tracing a number of people from the Leigh area and as part of this process there may be some arrests and interviews to eliminate individuals from our investigation.”
Police refused to comment on who the people were they wished to speak to but they are thought to include known offenders and people who have been seen behaving oddly in the area.
CCTV footage has also been collected and is being viewed and examined in minute detail.
House-to-house inquiries are continuing to take place today with officers focusing on the area around Sanderson Street.
Lauren's devastated parents Alison Pilkington-Smith, 35, and Glen Smith, 37, described their daughter as "a beautiful, lively little girl".
A post mortem examination is due to take place either later today or tomorrow morning and the results are not expected until at least Monday morning.
