Officers searching for missing 15-year-old Kayleigh Haywood have found a body, police said.

 

Leicestershire Police made the discovery in a field in Ibstock at around 10pm on Wednesday and the teenager's family has been informed, although formal identification is yet to take place.

Kayleigh, from Measham, had not been seen since about 6pm on Friday November 13, when she was dropped off outside Ibstock Community College in Central Avenue.

Chief Superintendent David Sandall said: "We have discovered a body in a field. While formal identification has yet to take place, Kayleigh's family are aware of the discovery and enquiries are continuing."

Two men, aged 27 and 28, remain in police custody arrested on suspicion of murder.

© PA PICTURE DESK Kayleigh Haywood missing Just hours earlier, Kayleigh's parents made an emotional appeal to the public to come forward with information, saying: "We just need to know what has happened to our baby girl."

In a statement, Stephanie Haywood and Martin Whitby added: "It is breaking our hearts and we are shedding tear after tear.

"We love Kayleigh so much and without her our family is incomplete. A big part of our lives has gone."

As the investigation turned into a murder probe, Kayleigh's Facebook account was being examined by officers investigating her disappearance and police widened a large-scale search to an area of agricultural land in Belton, around 10 miles away from the teenager's home.

A mobile phone belonging to Kayleigh was recovered in Ibstock and undisclosed items of clothing thought to be linked to her were found in both Ibstock and Diseworth.