Tributes have been paid to 13-year-old Amber Peat, who went missing from her home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, on Saturday.
Nottinghamshire police announced that they had discovered Amber’s body on Tuesday night, hours after her parents made an emotional appeal for the safe return of their daughter.
A postmortem, as well as formal identification will take place on Wednesday but officers have already said they are not treating the death as suspicious.
Mike Smith, the principal of Queen Elizabeth’s academy, where Amber was a year-eight pupil, said the community was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the discovery of a body.
He said: “Amber has been a student at the school since September. Academically bright, she has been in the academy choir and has loved singing and dancing. Amber has been happy at the academy. Students who have been particularly affected are being supported by staff and trained counsellors. This is a close-knit, community academy and everybody is supporting each other at this difficult time.”
Tributes were also left close to where Amber’s body was found, a 50-metre stretch of grass on Westfield Lane, less than a mile from Amber’s home in Bosworth Street, which was still being guarded by police on Wednesday morning.
One message from school classmates said: “I hope your parents find the strength to find peace.” It added: “Hope the angels make you smile.”
Police vehicles were parked at the scene on the corner of a road junction. The sealed-off patch of land is backed by a path running alongside a hedge in the middle of a quiet housing estate of mainly semi-detached homes.
Rianna Richards, 12, was in tears after she laid flowers in memory of her friend. She said she had been sent home from school because she was so upset. “She was a nice person, she was funny,” Rianna said. Her mother, Sharon, added: “It’s hard to take in when things like this happen. Obviously we don’t know what’s happened. It’s hard to imagine. I think it’s just more shock than anything.”
The search for Amber involved more than 400 officers and staff, including from neighbouring forces, as well as members of the local community.
Supt Matt McFarlane said: “On behalf of Nottinghamshire police I would like to thank the local community and those further afield for their help in our search to find Amber Peat.
“From the moment Amber was reported missing our teams worked tirelessly alongside the community to try and find her ... Sadly this was not the outcome that any of us were hoping for.”
“Our thoughts are with Amber’s family, and we do ask that you please respect their privacy and that of her wider family.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, before the body was found, Amber’s mother, Kelly, and stepfather, Danny, described her as a bookish child who was close to her family and whose disappearance was completely out of character.
They said she walked out after refusing to clean a cool box used to store food on a recent “brilliant” holiday in Cornwall. Kelly Peat said: “I heard the [front] door and when I went out I couldn’t see her anywhere. She had just gone.”
