Police investigating the disappearance of Hanwell teenager Alice Gross have recovered a body from the River Brent.

A formal identification has yet to take place but Alice's family have been informed and officers say that the inquiry is now being treated as murder.

Commander Graham McNulty, said: "This is obviously a significant development and Alice's family has been informed. We are unable to make a formal identification at this stage, but clearly this news is devastating for everyone involved in the search for Alice.

"This is now a murder investigation and I need the public's help to find whoever is responsible. I would urge anyone who may know something to come forward. Even if you have not yet spoken out it is not too late to tell us what you know. I would like to thank the local community of Ealing who have shown huge support and patience during the course of our investigation. This discovery will have a significant impact throughout the borough."

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Search teams looking for Alice found a body in the River Brent on Tuesday night, September 30. "Significant efforts had been made to conceal the body", police confirmed.

The body has now been removed from the scene.

Alice was last seen by a CCTV camera on the afternoon of August 28 walking along on the towpath at the Grand Union Canal. Latvian builder Arnis Zalkans is known to have cycled past the same spot and is thought he would have come into contact with Alice. Zalkans, who served seven years in jail in Latvia for murdering his wife, went missing on September 3.

Nina Gross, Alice and her mother Rosalind Hodgkiss

Cmdr McNulty added: "You only need to walk around the surrounding streets to see the effect that Alice's disappearance has had on the whole community. Our work at this scene is crucial to ensure we capture all the available evidence allowing us to identify who is responsible for this dreadful crime. This may take some time, and I ask people to remain patient with us.

"I can confirm that significant efforts were made to conceal the body. At this point I do not wish to speculate any further on what has happened. Finally, I would like to reiterate my request that Alice's family and friends are given the time to come to terms with this news. My thoughts, and those of all of us in the Metropolitan Police, are with them at this difficult time."

More as we get it.

PHP 19-09-2014 COLLECT PICTURE: Arnis Zalkalns who is the prime suspect in the Met police investigation into Alice Gross (14) who has been missing from her home in Ealing, west London since August. COLLECT PICTURE Photo by Phil Harris Mirror News