Body in Thames not Amanda

The body was recovered on Tuesday evening

The body found in the River Thames is not that of missing Surrey teenager Amanda Dowler.

Police have confirmed the body, spotted by a cyclist near Sunbury Lock in Surrey at 1550 BST on Tuesday, is not the 13-year-old's. The lock is about two miles from Walton-on-Thames, where Amanda was last seen, but had not been part of the extensive search carried out since her disappearance.

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The BBC's Clarence Mitchell confirmed the news live on Breakfast.

Surrey Police say body found in Thames is not Amanda Dowler, it is a female body, but dental records show it isn't Milly. It's now 34 days since Milly was last seen, Detectives are now appealing for fresh witnesses. The relief for the family must be great, but the agony will continue...

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On Tuesday, officers said the body was that of a female, but refused to confirm or deny it was linked to Amanda's disappearance.

A Home Office pathologist said the body had been in the water "for some time".

Police divers recovered the body shortly after 2015 BST on Tuesday and carried out tests throughout the night under the cover of a tent on the riverbank.

Amanda's parents face an agonising wait for news

Amanda's parents, who have been kept constantly informed of developments, now face an agonising wait until the identity of the body is confirmed.

A police family liaison officer is with them at their home in Walton Park.

Their daughter, also known as Milly, was last seen on 21 March walking home from the railway station at nearby Walton-on-Thames.

After sharing a plate of chips with a friend, she phoned her father, Robert, to say she was heading home but never arrived.

Reconstruction

Fearing she had been abducted, Mr Dowler and his wife Sally made a number of appeals for her safe return.

Friends and celebrities including Pop Idol Will Young and actor Jonathan Pryce also appealed for information.

One, on the BBC's Crimewatch UK programme, was accompanied by a reconstruction of her journey home from school.

A massive police hunt was launched, about 50 sites searched and about 3,000 people in the Walton area spoken to during extensive house to house inquiries.

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