The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Body found in search for missing teenager.
Grim discovery was in location close to where 17-year-old was last seen
Police searching for a missing teenager said last night they had found a body.
The grim discovery was made yesterday afternoon at a disused scrapyard in Kirkcaldy, close to where 17-year-old Libbi Toledo was last seen 10 days previously.
Officers said the body had yet to be identified and the death was being treated as “unexplained”.
Libbi’s mother Judi Toledo, who stays in Brechin, had been due to address the media at a press conference at Kirkcaldy police station yesterday. However, it was called off at the last minute due to what police described as a “significant development” in the case.
A large section of the Smeaton area of the town was cordoned off yesterday as the body was recovered.
Efforts appeared to be concentrated on land formerly occupied by Noble’s Auto Salvage, which closed several years ago, and police tape was put up on Denburn Road and Smeaton Road. A lane which runs alongside the yard from Hayfield Road to Smeaton Road was also cordoned off.
A police spokesperson said: “Police in Fife can confirm that a body has sadly been found during the search for missing teenager, Libbi Toledo, in Kirkcaldy.
“Officers discovered the body of a female within a disused scrapyard at the junction of Denburn Road and Smeaton Road around 2.20pm...
“Formal identification is yet to take place.
“The death is currently being treated as unexplained pending further inquiries and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.”
Concern had been growing for the welfare of Libbi, who is described as vulnerable with mental health problems, ADHD and autism.
She lived at an assisted living facility in the town, although she had recently been staying with her mother Judi in Brechin three days a week.
Her father Joe lives in America. Libbi had stayed with Judi from the Thursday to the Sunday before she vanished. She caught the train from Montrose back to Kirkcaldy at 3.50pm on Sunday September 10.
The teenager was last seen on Veronica Crescent, Kirkcaldy, at 1pm the following day. She was last spoken to around five hours later when she said she was at a friend’s house, believed to be in the local area.
She was reported missing at 1.45am on Tuesday September 12 after she failed to return to her accommodation.
A major police operation swung into action and police made repeated appeals for information on Libbi’s whereabouts.
Her distraught parents also pleaded for her safe return.