Boy, 14, is arrested for murder as girl, 14, is found dead in park 500 yards from her home after she went missing three days ago ‘with phone switched off’

14-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of murder The body of a missing teenager was found just 500 meters from his home.

The teenager, from the Blaina Gwent area, is currently in police custody.

Official identification has not yet taken place, but the family of 14-year-old Lilly, who has been missing since Saturday because her phone was ‘unusually’ turned off, has been informed.

Gwent Police also referred to the Independent Police Conduct Office regarding the matter.

The body was found at around 10.10pm on Monday night in the Duffryn Park area of ​​Blaina, a former mining village near Ebbw Vale in the South Wales Valleys.

According to local councillors, the teenager, an only child, was found hiding in bushes by two teenagers who went looking for Lilly.

His family had made desperate calls and were very worried as they had heard nothing from the ‘quiet and gentle’ young man for 48 hours.

Lilly’s mother, Gemma Jones, said she hoped her daughter had gone to Cardiff and pleaded: ‘Please bring my baby back home.’

His aunt Zoe Jones wrote: ‘[She] He went out at 6.30 and did not come home; It was very out of character. Lilly please come home girl, I promise you’re not in trouble…we just want you to be home.’

A body was found in Pilgrims Park in Blaina, about a half-mile from where missing 14-year-old schoolgirl Lilly was last seen Saturday.

Gwent Police have launched a murder investigation, with coroners now examining the scene in Blaina

Police also used drones as family members searched the area around Duffryn Park on Monday. Just hours later, the body was found about a half-mile from where Lilly was last seen near a waterside walk.

The body was found in bushes, just 50 meters from the town’s bowling club, which opened to provide refreshments for search parties, and less than 500 meters from Lilly’s family home, a three-bedroom semi in the town.

Volunteers searching for the schoolgirl believe the killer tried to hide her body in dense bushes next to the bike path.

The park, which is used only by bowls club members and those taking the shortcut to the city center, was closed today with a judicial tent set up to protect the crime scene.

In addition, gazebos were set up as shelter for the police who were investigating due to the intense sun and 32.5 degree temperature.

Mum-of-two Katy Bennett, 44, said: ‘I looked very close to there and didn’t see anything, it must have been covered up.

‘There were about 60 of us in that area on Monday night looking for him. The entire community gathered to search for Lilly.

‘I stopped calling at 9pm but there were still people coming to help at that hour. He was found at ten past ten.”

Another search team member said: ‘They found him under the trees just above the bowls club. People had already looked there, so it must have been hidden.’

One local resident said: ‘This is a huge shock, everyone is confused and worried.

‘Since Blaina was a small town, people knew the girl was missing and the search was ongoing. ‘This is a terrible thing.’

Councilor Lisa Catherine Winnett said the community was ‘devastated’ by the discovery.

He said: ‘My thoughts and prayers are with Lilly’s family at this devastating and terrible time. I hope the police take immediate action to find the perpetrator.’

A drone photo shows the area police are investigating at Duffryn Park in Blaina

The park, which is only used by bowls club members and those taking the shortcut to the city centre, was closed today.

Flowers were left near Pilgrims Park, where the body of 14-year-old Lilly was found

School friends from nearby Brynmawr Comprehensive were sent home in the early hours of Tuesday and girls her age were seen crying and hugging each other in the street.

Lilly, who is 1.70m tall and of medium build, was last seen in the town’s High Street at around 6.50pm on Saturday, wearing a long black dress and black sandals.

Locals claim that the teenager’s phone was turned off about 20 minutes before he was last seen.

One resident said he saw Lilly ‘outside the kebab shop’ on the night she disappeared and ‘initially she looked like she was waiting for someone’.

He said: ‘I told her she looked beautiful. ‘He crossed the street and walked through the churchyard.’

Gwent Police said the murder of a much-loved teenager would cause ‘distress and concern’ in the community.

Lilly’s parents, Karl and Gemma Jones, were with a family liaison officer and were being consoled by the family.

Steve Jenkins, the previous owner of the family’s three-bedroom semi, said: ‘It’s all very raw at the moment.

‘Lilly was a lovely, quiet and gentle girl. I saw him grow up and I remember him playing in the garden.

‘We live on the same street and my son was friends with him. He’s so upset we had to pick him up from school. ‘He was only talking to her on Thursday.’

Neighbor Wayne Edwards said: ‘The whole town is devastated, not just those who knew Lilly and her family, everyone is devastated.

‘I used to see him playing in the street but in the last few years he’s started to go out with his friends.

‘The search for him was huge, the helicopter was circling and drones were flying all day. ‘It’s tragic to have him so close.’

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Steven Thomas said: ‘We continue to have a significant police presence in the area and understand the concern within our communities at this time.

‘Our investigations are continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding the death and there is currently a person in police custody being questioned.

‘I would ask anyone with information to please come forward and speak to us, you can do this in person or you can contact us through the usual channels.

‘I would also encourage people not to speculate online as this is a live investigation and such comments may impact our ability to bring to justice anyone found to have committed a criminal offence.’

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 by calling 2600197059. You can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.