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| Tia Sharp police arrest Stuart Hazell on suspicion of murder | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| The partner of Tia Sharp's grandmother has been arrested on suspicion of murdering the 12-year-old, the Metropolitan Police said. | |
| Police were searching for Stuart Hazell, 37, after a body was discovered earlier at Christine Sharp's house in New Addington, Croydon. | |
| Tia, 12, went missing from the house last Friday. | Tia, 12, went missing from the house last Friday. |
| Mr Hazell was arrested in Merton, south London, at 20:25 BST after he was identified by a member of the public. | Mr Hazell was arrested in Merton, south London, at 20:25 BST after he was identified by a member of the public. |
| A murder investigation was launched after police searching for Tia found a body. | |
| They are yet to formally identify the body but the family has been informed. | |
| 'Absolute shock' | |
| Earlier, Met Commander Neil Basu said there had been four searches at the property in the past week, two with sniffer dogs, including a search of the girl's bedroom. | Earlier, Met Commander Neil Basu said there had been four searches at the property in the past week, two with sniffer dogs, including a search of the girl's bedroom. |
| Tia's uncle David Sharp, her grandmother and Mr Hazell had all made appeals to find the schoolgirl. | |
| She was said to have gone missing after leaving the house for the Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon at about midday last Friday to buy flip-flops. | |
| It is understood she regularly visited her grandmother's house and had spent Thursday night alone with Mr Hazell while her grandmother was at work. | |
| Since the news of the body's discovery, several people have laid tributes for the girl near a garage close to her grandmother's house, which still has a cordon in place on the approach to it. | |
| Alston Millington, 32, said: "It is such sad news. I live just around the corner and can't believe it." | |
| Neighbour Chloe Hickie, 20, said: "It makes me feel sick to my stomach. I am in absolute shock." | |
| Up to 80 police officers have been involved in the search for Tia, and more than 800 hours of CCTV footage has been gathered from the local area including trams and buses. | |
| Tia's bedroom searched | |
| About 200 people helped police search an area of woodland known as Birchwood not far from the house earlier this week. | |
| Mr Basu said: "Our priority is to support the family of Tia at this distressing time and identify the body, which has been discovered, as quickly as possible. | |
| "When Tia was first reported missing, officers searched her bedroom, as is normal practice in a missing persons inquiry. | |
| "A further search of the house took place in the early hours of Sunday morning by a specialist team. | |
| "This was then followed by another search of the house by specialist dogs on Wednesday lunchtime. | |
| "What we now need to establish is how long the body had been in the place where it was found." | |
| The body was discovered within hours of the area near the house being cordoned off at about noon. | |
| Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell praised the support offered to the family and said the discovery of the body was "a huge blow". | |
| "The police have yet to formally confirm that the body is Tia's, yet this devastating development will come as a huge blow to her family and the community in New Addington, all of whom have worked tirelessly to try to find her over the past week," he added. |