British police hunting missing nursery assistant Amanda Edwards said tonight they had found a body believed to be hers at a building site in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
Almost simultaneously, Wiltshire Police also said a man in his 40s - held for several days earlier this week on suspicion of kidnapping her - had been found dead in nearby Calne.
Speaking to reporters at the Malmesbury building site, Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Howlett said further formal identification would be needed. "However, the circumstances have led us to believe that we have found Amanda 's body," he said.
Howlett said Edwards ' family were "devastated" at the discovery of the body. "Our investigation will continue to ascertain how Amanda died," he added.
UK media named the dead man in Calne, also in Wiltshire, as Ian Cortis, a 48-year-old married father-of-two.
"Due to the circumstances of this death, Wiltshire Constabulary have voluntarily referred this matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission who will be supervising an investigation into this death," a police spokeswoman said of the death in Calne.
