Alice Gross murder: schoolgirl’s body ‘hidden under heavy logs in underwater grave’

The 14-year-old, from Hanwell, was found wrapped in plastic sheets and carefully concealed in the riverbed beneath heavy logs.

Pathologists were today unable to establish exactly how the schoolgirl died amid fears that crucial DNA evidence to track her killer may have been lost because of the length of time submerged.

In a statement this evening, Scotland Yard said “further tests” were needed to determine how Alice died.

A police spokesperson said: “The post-mortem examination into the murder of 14-year-old Alice Gross has now concluded. No cause of death has been given at this time and further tests are required.”

Details of the lengths to which her killer went to hide the teenager’s corpse were revealed as Scotland Yard faced questions over why it had taken more than four weeks to find her.

The stretch of the River Brent where she was discovered on Tuesday night is just yards from where her rucksack was previously recovered, and a five-minute walk from where she was last seen alive on CCTV.

Dive teams had also searched the same section of river early on in the investigationinto her disappearance.

Scotland Yard said “significant efforts” had been made by her killer to conceal her body.

A leading criminologist suggested the killing was pre-meditated rather than a random, opportunistic attack.

David Wilson, professor of criminology at Birmingham City University, said it could have a “carefully orchestrated operation” because it appeared the killer had managed to avoid CCTV and witnesses when carrying out the murder and then disposing of the body.

Murder investigation: A police tent on the towpath by the River BrentAlice’s parents Rosalind Hodgkiss, 50, and Jose Gross, 60, said they had been left “completely devastated” by the death of their daughter as the local community was united in an outpouring of grief.

Prayers were said by candlelight at an impromptu gathering at the town’s clock tower, which remains covered in the yellow ribbons that came to symbolise the search for Alice.

In a statement, the couple said: “It is difficult to comprehend that our sweet and beautiful daughter was the victim of a terrible crime. Why anyone would want to hurt her is something we are struggling to come to terms with.

Flowers near the scene where her body was found“Alice was a loving and much-loved daughter and sister, a quirky live spark of a girl, beautiful inside and out.

“She was a funny companion, a loyal friend, both passionate and compassionate, and so talented with a bright future ahead of her. She brought so much joy to our family and those who knew her.”

Police renewed appeals for help in tracing prime suspect and convicted murderer Arnis Zalkalns, who was caught on CCTV cycling a short distance behind Alice on the day she vanished, and who disappeared a week later.

Detectives fear he may have fled to his native Latvia, but have admitted they would have no power to arrest him if he is found because they currently do not have enough evidence to issue a European Arrest Warrant.

A police officer was standing guard outside the house in Ealing which he shared with his partner and their one-year-old child.

Katerina Laiblova, Zalkalns’ partner, said today she was “okay” but too upset to speak about the discovery of the body.

She said: “Me and my daughter are okay. I have not heard anything from Arnis. I cannot speak about this at the moment. All I can say is that we have heard nothing.”

Flowers on a bridge over the River BrentOfficers were also seen searching a tool shed in gated estate Heron’s Court in Isleworth, where the 41-year-old had been working as a decorator.

Met Commander Graham McNulty, leading the investigation, said recovering evidence from the scene would take “some time”.

He said: “I would urge anyone who may know something to come forward. If you have not yet spoken out it is not too late to tell us what you know.”

Marius Leontiuc