Amber Peat: police probe false Facebook murder claim

An "appalling" false claim that missing schoolgirl Amber Peat had been murdered is said to be under investigation by police.

The 13-year-old went missing from her home in Mansfield on Saturday afternoon following a row about chores with her mother and step-father and was found dead on Tuesday evening following a three-day search.

Nottinghamshire Police have confirmed that the cause of death was hanging and said her death is not being treated as suspicious.

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However, it said it was investigating an "appalling" post on social media that had been seen by many people who had helped in the search.

Police refused to discuss the exact wording of the post, but the BBC says the Facebook message claimed it was not worth searching for Amber because she had been murdered. A couple of newspapers said the "internet troll" went into "graphic detail" about the fictional murder in the post, which was published just minutes after her body was found.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: "We are aware of an offensive Facebook post which was seen yesterday evening by many people supporting our efforts to find missing Amber Peat.

"We would like to let the public know we are robustly investigating and will work hard to bring to justice anyone who publishes such appalling posts to social media."

Tributes have poured in for Amber, described by her school head-teacher as an "academically bright" girl who loved singing and dancing.

Mike Smith, the head of Queen Elizabeth's Academy, said the community had been "deeply shocked and saddened" by her death.

Amber Peat: police find body in search for missing girl

02 June

Police searching for missing 13-year-old Amber Peat have found a body about a mile from her family home.

The teenager vanished on Saturday afternoon from her house in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

Yesterday, her family made an emotional appeal for her to return, insisting that her disappearance was "completely out of character".

But last night a body was found in undergrowth near houses in Westfield Lane, near Amber's school – the Queen Elizabeth Academy – in the Ladybrook area, reports the Mansfield Chad.

Officers cordoned off the area at around 7.30pm after it was claimed that a dog walker had made the discovery, says the local newspaper.

Formal identification is yet to take place but Nottinghamshire Police said it was not treating the death as suspicious. A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out later today.

Officers had reportedly examined the area earlier in the three-day search.

One local resident told the BBC that it was a very public area. "People are back and forth, it's nearly a main road, people go up and down. I can't believe she's been there since Saturday," she said.

Amber's mother and step-father said the family had just come back from a "brilliant holiday" in Cornwall when she disappeared. The 13-year-old apparently walked out after a row over chores.

"We told her to clean a cool box out that we had had sandwiches in for the journey home," step-father Danny Peat explained yesterday before the body was found. "It was a chore, basically, and I'm sure all teenagers are the same, she didn't want to do a chore. That was the last conversation."

The family have asked for privacy after being informed of the news.

Amber Peat: police dismiss #Gameof72 link in missing girl case

02 June

Police officers searching for the missing 13-year-old Amber Peat have dismissed any suggestion that she was involved in a new social media craze called #Gameof72.

Amber was last seen in her home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, on Saturday afternoon and her family insist her disappearance is "completely out of character".

At a press conference today police said there was no evidence to suggest that Amber had purposefully gone missing as part of a new social media craze, reports the BBC. The so-called #Gameof72 dares young people to vanish for three days without letting anyone know about their whereabouts.

Supt Matt McFarlane, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "There's nothing to say that's what's happened – we are treating it as social media chatter."

Police renewed their appeal to the public for any information, describing Amber as 4ft tall and white with long dark brown hair, last seen wearing a black Puma zip-up top, purple trainers and blue jeans.

Her family also gave an emotional appeal for her to come back home. They said they had returned from a "fantastic" holiday in Cornwall, but that Amber had walked out of the house after a "minor disagreement" over chores. They believe she had no mobile phone or cash on her when she left.

Amber's mother, Kelly, said: "We were in the living room, and I heard the front door slam, and that's when I realised. I couldn't see her anywhere – she was just gone."

Investigators said they were pursuing all lines of inquiry, including the possibility that she may have attempted to visit her biological father in Scotland. However, the search area has focused on a one kilometre radius around the family home, where officers have been carrying out searches on a number of properties.

Amber's stepfather Danny said: "She doesn't really go out. All she ever wants to do is read. It doesn't matter whether it's a newspaper or reading to her sister. She just wants to do everything as a family. She loves singing and dancing. She's still a really girly girl, just happy to play with anything, read anything. Everybody is just in pieces right now."