Kayleigh’s family ‘utterly devastated’ after police find a body
THE family of Kayleigh Haywood said they were ‘utterly devastated’ last night after police revealed a body found in a field is believed to be that of the 15-year-old.
Police made the discovery late on Wednesday on farmland less than half a mile from the school where Kayleigh was last seen in Ibstock, Leicestershire, a week ago.
Last night police were still holding Luke Harlow, 27, and his neighbour Stephen Beadman, 28, on suspicion of murder. The suspects live a few hundred yards from where the body was found.
In a statement, Kayleigh’s family said: ‘We are heartbroken, grief stricken and as a family utterly devastated. We cannot even begin to thank the local communities and wider public for their messages of support which have helped us through the last week. We are also grateful for the publicity the media have given to Kayleigh’s disappearance and the desperate search to find her.’
Kayleigh’s mother, Stephanie, 36, a mother-of-six, added on Facebook: ‘I’m numb and can’t get it that it’s actually real.’
The teenager’s father Martin Whitby, 57, from nearby Coalville, changed his Facebook profile picture to a photo of his daughter.
Kayleigh lived with her mother in Measham, five miles from Ibstock. She had been dropped off in the town last Friday evening to meet her best friend, and had told her mother she would be staying with the girl for the weekend, something she did regularly.