3 Mar 2015

Becky Watts search: body parts found by police

Police searching for teenager Becky Watts, who went missing from her Bristol home a week ago, say they have found body parts in a house.

Detective Superintendent Mike Courtiour, from Avon and Somerset Police, said her family had been told the “devastating” news, and four men and a woman had been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Two people were already in custody on suspicion of murdering the 16-year-old from the St George area of the city.

Det Supt Courtiour said in a statement: “As a result of new information received late last night, we attended a house at Barton Court in the Barton Hill area of Bristol.

“The information suggested that Becky’s body had been cut up and a search at the new location resulted in the discovery of body parts. Although formal identification procedures have not yet been completed, we have made Becky’s family aware of this discovery.”

Suspicion of murder

A 28-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of kidnapping the teenager. They were further arrested on Monday on suspicion of her murder.

Becky left home with her phone, laptop and tablet computer, but did not tell friends or family where she was going or take extra clothing. Police have been searching for her since she was reported missing by her family at 4pm on 20 February.

Speaking at the weekend, Becky’s father, Darren Galsworthy, and stepmother, Angie-Mae Galsworthy, said they would “prepare ourselves for the worst”.

They said in a statement: “Rebecca has still not been found. We continue to hope that she will be found safe and unharmed but we will prepare ourselves for the worst.”

The teenager’s uncle, Sam Galsworthy, said no-one on her father’s side had any connection to her disappearance.

Seeking to end speculation and rumour, he told ITV News: “We want to make it absolutely clear that no member of Darren’s side of the family are implicated in any way. Every family member who was part of our search for Rebecca still remains with us.”

Hundreds of leaflets have been printed and a social media campaign, using the hashtag #FindBecky, has gained thousands of hits. The total reach for the social media campaign to find her has been more than 4 million people worldwide.