Family of schoolgirl found dead on Isle of Bute knew teenage murder suspect
♦ A teenage boy charged in connection with the murder of six-year-old Alesha Macphail was known to the family, it has emerged.
The 16-year-old was arrested late on Wednesday night. Police confirmed he had been charged in connection with the death yesterday afternoon. He is in custody and will appear at Greenock Sheriff Court today.
A dozen police were yesterday combing the length of the beach opposite Alesha’s grandparents’ house, where the schoolgirl had been staying.
Their home has been searched by police and yesterday a cordon was erected around a second house.
Alesha was reported missing at 6.25am on Monday, when her grandparents discovered she was not in bed.
The schoolgirl, who lived in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, with her mother, was a few days into a summer break with her father, Rob Macphail.
One resident, who asked not to be named, said: “Her dad was great, he wouldn’t go anywhere without her.”
Alesha’s family remained away from their Bute home yesterday as police kept a heavy presence outside.