A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of a missing schoolgirl was found in a park just 500 yards from her family home in the south Wales valleys town of Blaina.
The discovery was made in the Duffryn Park area at about 10.10pm on Monday, bringing a devastating end to a three-day search for Lilly Jones, 14, who vanished with her phone switched off. Formal identification has yet to take place, but Gwent Police have informed her family.
“Boy, 14, arrested on suspicion of murder after body of missing schoolgirl Lilly, 14, found in park 500 yards from her home”
Lilly was last seen on the High Street in Blaina at around 6.50pm on Saturday 20 June. A witness reported seeing her near a kebab shop, appearing to be waiting for someone. She was described as white, around 5ft 6ins tall, with a medium build and long black hair, wearing a long black dress and black sandals.
Her mother, nail technician Gemma Jones, had issued a desperate appeal: “Please bring my baby back home.” A relative posted on social media: “Lilly, please come home my girl, I promise you’re not in any trouble … we just want you home. If someone is holding Lilly against her will, I can’t express how important it is for you to let her go.”
The teenage suspect, also from the Blaenau Gwent area, is currently in police custody being questioned. Detective Chief Inspector Steven Thomas, senior investigating officer, said: “We continue to have a significant police presence in the area and understand the concern amongst our communities at this time. Our enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the death.”
Thomas urged the public not to speculate online, adding: “Such comments can have an impact on our ability to bring anyone, found to have committed a criminal offence, to justice.”
Floral tributes have been left near the scene, and police officers have been patrolling the streets in twos and threes. Niamh Salkeld, a Plaid Cymru Senedd member for Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni, said she was “deeply saddened by this tragic news” and that the community was “struggling to come to terms with what has happened.”