14-year-old girl found murdered

The schoolgirl’s badly beaten body was discovered close to a path running between Newbattle Community High School and Newbattle Road, Dalkeith, late last night.

The dead girl is believed to be local girl Jodi Jones who has been reported missing by her family.

A full-scale murder inquiry has been launched into what police have described as a brutal killing. Detectives are investigating the possibility that the murder may have been sexually motivated.

An incident team has been set up at Dalkeith Police Station. The alarm was raised after Jodi, who lived in the former mining village of Easthouses, on the edge of Dalkeith, failed to turn up to an arranged meeting with her boyfriend. When she failed to show up, the boyfriend contacted her family.

They began looking for their missing daughter, who is a pupil at St David’s RC High School, in Dalkeith, and called the police.

Members of Jodi’s family and police officers were desperately searching for her, when the body was discovered just before midnight.

It is understood the discovery was made by a friend of the Jones family who had joined the search.

The path near where her body was found is used by members of the public as a shortcut from Easthouses to nearby Newbattle Road, and by people walking their dogs. It runs through Campbell Park and Talbot Park.

Officers from Lothian and Borders Police were this morning scouring the scene for vital clues as to how the girl died.

Newbattle Community High School and part of the field the path runs through were cordoned off as officers carried out their investigations.

A full post mortem is being carried out today to establish the cause and time of the schoolgirl’s death. Police are then expected to officially confirm that the dead girl is missing Jodi.

It is not known how long the girl’s body had lain in the woods before she was discovered, although Jodi had left home at 5.30pm and was had been due back at 10pm.

Police say it is imperative to speak to anyone who may have been in the park or the woods last night.

A police spokesman said: "It is requested that anybody who used this path, or was within the vicinity between 5pm and 10pm on Monday please contact Dalkeith Police Station."

The teenager’s death has left the Easthouses community in shock. Bobby Trotter, 65, regularly uses the area when walking his dog.

He said: "It is the last thing you expect to hear. I don’t often walk down that path, and I don’t ever walk down it at night."

The rear of the school is only 15 metres from the path near to which the girl was found.

The path is also just a five-minute walk from Jodi Jones’ house.

No-one from Newbattle Community High School was available for comment, but the school was still open this morning and pupils were attending as usual.

A police spokesman said: "Inquiries are at a very early stage and we are calling in specialist resources to help conduct the investigation.

"We will be consulting the Procurator Fiscal and the pathologist, but at this stage we are very anxious to have people come forward who might have been in the vicinity.

"It is a well-used path and it is almost certain there were some people around that evening.

"At this stage there is a great deal of concern about how this tragic death might have happened."

The murder investigation is being headed up by Det Chief Super Craig Dobbie.

Speaking from the scene today, he said: "We are appealing for people to come forward to help us with investigations into this young girl’s murder.

‘The path near where the body was found is used by members of the public as a short cut from Easthouses to Newbattle Road, Dalkeith.

"It is also commonly used by people walking their dogs and we would in particular appeal to anyone who was in or near the area between the hours of 5pm and 10pm last night."

There is nothing to link the murder with any other incident, say police.

People in Easthouses and the close-knit communities surrounding the village have been rocked by the killing.

Councillor Sam Campbell, Lord Provost of Midlothian, urged anyone with information about the killing to help police catch the killer.

He said: "From what we have heard this is a tragic event for the young girl’s family."

Parents across the area said they were now afraid to let their children out alone.

Worried father Steven Austin, 25, from Mansefield Avenue in Newtongrange, said he had been shocked by the murder and would now not be allowing his three-year-old daughter out of his sight.

He said: "I was going up to work this morning to hand in some time sheets around 10.30am and saw an area cordoned off at Newbattle High School.

"One of my neighbours told me that a 14-year-old girl had been murdered.

"I am just so shocked because you don’t expect something like this to happen so close to you. There’s not been anything like this before round here and people will now be scared to let their children out of their sight.

"People are scared round here now because someone is out there, some psycho and we will all have to keep our eyes open.

"She was only 14, she had her whole life ahead of her, I’m just so horrified that this could happen."

Lorry driver Richard Scott, 26, Sixth Street, Newtongrange, said: "This is a real tragedy, it’s unbelievable.

"I’m so shocked, it could be anyone, you just don’t know. I’m so glad my five-year-old daughter is away on holiday at the moment."

Ray Pearson, 63, a retired home help from Hamilton Crescent in Newtongrange, said: "I used to walk my dog along the path where it happened and I was always worried when I went there. It’s very quiet, overhung with trees and lots of bushes. I’ll certainly be locking my back door now which I never used to do.

"I feel really sorry for her poor family, this is a lovely area where things like this don’t normally happen."

Dalkeith community councillor Ann Stewart-Kmicha, said: "As a community councillor and as a human being, I’m absolutely horrified. It’s such a waste of life."

The school which Jodi attended were braced today for the worst possible news about the missing schoolgirl.

Donald Mackay, director of education at Midlothian Council, said: "The events of last night were tragic and the whole school community as well as the wider community of Midlothian have been shocked and saddened by this news.

"Midlothian is a very close community and the impact of this young woman’s death will be widely felt throughout the area.

"All our thoughts are very much with the girl’s family and with the schools which are affected by this tragedy.

"We will do everything that we possibly can to support the family and other pupils, particularly her school friends.

"Finally, I can only urge anyone with any information relating to this incident to contact the police as soon as possible."

Victim support groups say the murder highlights the need for people to be vigilant about personal safety at all times.

Victim Support Scotland would not comment on individual cases, but a spokesman said: "The advice we would give to people would be not to place themselves at risk and to use every means they can to make themselves as safe as possible while they are out."

One police source said: "It was a brutal killing which has shocked the officers working on the case."