Joanna Yeates’ family lay floral tributes

Miss Yeates’s body was formally identified by her parents today, but police cannot yet determine how she died.

Avon and Somerset Police said: “The difficult conditions in which she was found, particularly the frozen condition of her body, means that the post mortem has still not been concluded, and police are not going to be in a position to confirm the cause of her death until tomorrow (Tuesday) at the earliest”.

Miss Yeates’s family and her boyfriend Greg Reardon were accompanied by police to the lane where her body was found.

The body of the 25-year-old was discovered on Christmas Day by a couple walking their dogs near the Bristol and Clifton Golf Club, in the Failand area of North Somerset.

Today, her parents David and Theresa laid a bouquet of flowers at the spot, which is three miles from Miss Yeates’ Clifton flat.

Hugging each other for support, the Yeates’s kept to the far side of Longwood Lane, away from the painstaking forensic work being carried out by police.

The difficult conditions in which she was found, particularly the frozen condition of her body, means that the post mortem has still not been concluded. Avon and Somerset Police

Her mother and father laid a bunch of yellow roses in the lane with a picture of Miss Yeates on her graduation day tucked inside the bouquet.

Mr and Mrs Yeates had a brief moment together before being joined by her boyfriend and her brother Chris.

Mr Reardon, 27, left his own floral tribute of red and yellow flowers.

Mrs Yeates wiped away tears with a handkerchief before they all walked to the spot where Miss Yeates’s body was discovered. Mr Yeates comforted his wife as she broke down in tears while they walked back to their cars.

Avon and Somerset Police said they were still treating her death as suspicious, adding that they were appealing for anyone with information about her death to come forward.

Missing

The last known sighting of Miss Yeates, known to her friends as Jo, was on CCTV as she bought a pizza at a branch of Tesco Express in the Clifton area of Bristol on the evening of 17 December.

The university graduate, who worked as a landscape architect for BDP, was making her way home from The Ram pub in Park Street at about 8pm after a night out with work colleagues.

On her way home she rang her best friend, Rebecca Scott, to arrange to meet on Christmas Eve.

Her boyfriend Mr Reardon reported her missing on Sunday night after returning home to their flat in Canynge Road, Clifton, from a weekend away in Sheffield visiting family.

Friends launched a campaign to find her by putting up posters across Bristol and setting up a website and a page on Facebook and using Twitter.

Officers released footage of her buying the pizza in Tesco, which has become a key part of the investigation.

There was no trace of the pizza, the wrapping or the box in her home – despite the fact that the receipt, the coat she was wearing, and her mobile phone and keys were inside.

Anyone who can help the investigation can call the Operation Braid incident room on 0845 456 7000 or the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.