Body found in hunt for missing Mikaeel

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Body found in hunt for missing Mikaeel

Body found in hunt for missing Mikaeel

Police report a person has been detained after a body matching three-year-old's description was found in Fife

Police tape seals off an area near Mikaeel Kular's home. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

Police searching for Mikaeel Kular, the three-year-old who has been missing from his family home since Wednesday, announced that they had recovered the body of a young boy outside Edinburgh.

One person was arrested in connection with the discovery shortly before midnight in Fife, an area near the city but which had not been the focus of a wide-ranging search that had seen hundreds of people come out in force to help authorities look for the child.

To gasps from waiting media at press conference , Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said that searches scheduled to resume in the morning had been called off.

Graham said: "The investigation into the disappearance of Mikaeel Kular has been wide-ranging and fast-moving.

"As a result of inquiries, the body of a young child was recovered in Fife just before midnight. We strongly believe this to be the body of Mikaeel.

"A person has been detained in connection with the recovery of the body and members of Mikaeel's family have been informed of the recovery.

"Our thoughts and sympathies are with them at this time. I would like to thank everyone who has responded to these highly unusual events by assisting with searches and other activities in support of this investigation.

"As a result of this development, clearly there will now be no requirement for any further help in relation to searches in the Drylaw area. I would also like to acknowledge the overwhelming public response to requests for information, assistance and sightings. As ever, the police rely on the vital support of those who live and work within our communities.

"I am sure you will understand that I am unable to answer any further questions as the investigation continues."

The announcement came hours after police said that they feared the child have been abducted or deliberately harmed after failing to find any clue to his whereabouts for nearly 48 hours.

As the investigation into his disappearance entered its second night, Graham said detectives had started a full criminal inquiry running in parallel with the public missing persons search around his home in north Edinburgh.

Mikaeel was last seen at 9pm on Wednesday, after being put to bed by his mother in their flat in Drylaw, Edinburgh. There was a brief surge of hope after witnesses reported seeing a young boy matching Mikaeel's description running down a street in nearby Pilton on Thursday morning, but no further leads emerged afterwards.

Graham said that the inquiry had always considered a criminal link from the start.

Supt Liz McAinsh said members of the boy's family, including his father, had been co-operating with the investigation. They had interviewed his nursery workers and many people with previous contact with the boy.

Hundreds of volunteers, police and search and rescue teams had spent all day searching homes, paths, buildings and the nearby shoreline on the Firth of Forth.

It remains unclear exactly when Mikaeel disappeared or how he left the block of flats, which has a locked main entrance.

Mikaeel's father, who is understood to be estranged from his mother, has been questioned voluntarily by police. "All of his family have been very, very helpful to the police," McAinsh said.. "They continue to help us with our inquiries. Obviously we are as keen to get as much information from them because we just never know who might hold that vital bit of information that might help us find him."

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/17/police-mikaeel-gravely-concerned