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Post by Admin on Sept 3, 2014 6:02:44 GMT
The parents of missing 14-year-old Alice Gross have made an emotional appeal for her to return, five days after she disappeared. Officers have confirmed that a line of enquiry centres on a song-writing workshop attended by Alice Gross in Camden last month. Jose Gross and Rosalind Hodgkiss, speaking at the family home yesterday evening urged Alice to make contact. They said: "Alice is a talented, smart and lively girl. She is very passionate about music and is amazingly skilled. Alice is a thoughtful girl and it's these attributes we miss. "I want to directly appeal to Alice and say that 'Alice, we just want you home'. We miss you and we love you and we just want you back with us. You are not in any trouble, please pick up the phone and let us know that you are ok. We want to support you so please get in contact." Alice's sister, Nina, has set up a Facebook page to appeal for information which has attracted over 7,500 members. Nina, 19, added: "You're the greatest sister ever. I miss you and I love you and I just want you home where you belong. You need to know that you are loved." Sergeant Chris Naughton, from the Ealing Missing Persons Unit, said: "Five days on we are becoming increasingly worried about Alice. Alice was last seen at 1pm last Thursday, (August 28) when she left her home address in Hanwell. She told her family she would be home that evening, but she did not return. Alice is white, 5ft 2ins tall and of slim build with shoulder-length, light brown hair. When last seen, she was wearing dark blue jeans, a dark green lacy cardigan and denim blue 'Vans' shoes. She may have tartan-framed spectacles with her.
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Post by Admin on Sept 7, 2014 7:36:29 GMT
Detectives looking for missing schoolgirl Alice Gross have arrested a man on suspicion of murder. The 14-year-old, of Hanwell, west London, was last seen near the Grand Union Canal on Thursday. She had recently been diagnosed with anorexia, her mother said. Police said the suspect was arrested following information received by detectives on Saturday and was in custody at a west London police station. A spokesman said: "All lines of inquiry are still open at this time and this remains a missing person investigation at this stage." The Brentside High School pupil left the family home at 13:00 BST on Thursday. She had told her family she was going to meet some friends and would be back that evening. Instead she went for a walk alone along the tow path. She was captured on CCTV cameras at 14:23 near the Holiday Inn at Brentford Lock, heading towards Kew, and again at the same location walking towards Hanwell at 15:45. She was then recorded by CCTV at 16:23 near Trumpers Way Canal Bridge. Earlier police appealed for five cyclists who rode past Alice near Trumpers Way Canal Bridge to contact them. Alice was last seen by her family at 1pm on Thursday 28th August and was later captured on CCTV at 2.23pm walking alone on the Grand Union Canal towpath in the direction of Kew. Anyone with information can call police on 020 8358 0100; Ealing Missing Persons Unit on 020 8246 1018 or the charity Missing People on 116000
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Post by Admin on Sept 21, 2014 8:49:55 GMT
The hunt for missing 14-year-old Alice Gross is the largest Metropolitan Police search operation since the 7/7 bombings in 2005, the force has said. The Met said 600 officers, from eight forces, have searched 25 sq km (10 sq miles) of open land and 5.5km (3 miles) of canals and rivers. Alice was last seen on 28 August by the Grand Union Canal in west London. Latvian builder Arnis Zalkalns, a convicted murderer, has been named by the police as the prime suspect. More than 630 calls have been made by the public and police have asked anyone with CCTV footage to come forward. Officers said they would like shop owners, or anyone who has CCTV at their home or was out filming in the areas of Ealing and Hanwell, to hand in the footage. Det Supt Carl Mehta said: "Our thoughts continue to go out to Alice's family as our search continues in a bid to find her. "I would like to thank the local community, who have shown great support to the search effort and police investigation so far. Our officers are working through the weekend - carrying on those searches. We will not stop our hunt for Alice." Two properties linked to Mr Zalkalns have been searched by police. Forensic searches were carried out on Thursday at his home in Ealing, west London, where he had been living with his partner and their child. On Friday police started searching a second property in Boston Road, Hanwell. Police said Mr Zalkalns has not accessed his bank account or used his mobile phone since he went missing. His passport was left at his house.
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Post by Admin on Sept 22, 2014 8:54:11 GMT
A former Latvian detective has told how he fears the worst for missing Alice Gross after learning wife killer Arnis Zalkalns was prime suspect in her disappearance. The retired police officer warned the 41-year-old, who stabbed Rudite Zalkalns to death in 1997 and dumped her body in a shallow grave, could strike again. And he said the murder was so brutal it still haunts him to this day. He spoke as it was claimed the missing builder was accused of drugging a girl of 14 before allegedly sexually abusing her in London five years ago. The retired officer, who investigated Rudite's murder, said: "My blood ran cold when I heard that he was a prime suspect in another case. "I've investigated many murder cases in my career but this was the most callous case I've ever come across. It has stayed with me all my life. I have had sleepless nights since he has been connected to this young British girl's disappearance.I would suggest that the British police look for a shovel and a knife near where this little girl went missing. Also they should check for objects near where this man works or lives. This man made me sick. During his police interview, sometimes he cried, sometimes he got agitated and sometimes he had violent mood swings. But he never showed any remorse. He always said, 'She deserved it.' And now this man has come back to haunt us. I am now retired but I am ready to go back to work if the British police need my help. That is how worried I am. I think he has come back to Latvia. It's easy to get back here. There are lots of people who would harbour him. I feel very sorry for all the women who have ever become involved with him. I don't understand how he has managed to charm them to the extent that some of them may even protect him now. This case will stay with me for the rest of my life, it was really gruesome." Rudite's body was found in a forest just outside of the Latvian capital Riga where she lived with Zalkalns and their child Elvira, now 19. She had been dug up by animals and ripped apart. He was jailed for seven years. It was believed officials knew nothing of the murder when he arrived in Britain in 2007. He was later accused of sexually assaulting the teenager in London and quizzed by police. No charges were brought because it was believed the youngster would not co-operate with police. Former partner: Arnis Zalkalns' ex Liga Rubezniece Liga insisted her ex was a "good father" to their two young children in Latvia and would send 133 euros over from the UK once a fortnight to help support them. His last payment was due on September 14 but it never arrived in her account. She added: "He is not a monster and he has never hurt me in any way. And I can say that he doesn't have an interest in young girls. He raised my oldest daughter."
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Post by Admin on Sept 24, 2014 16:03:15 GMT
The brother of Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect in the case of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross, says his brother has been portrayed unfairly. Janis Daksa said he had been made to look like a "monster, a villain". People were not interested in whether he was a "good man", he said. M Zalkalns, jailed for his wife's murder in 1998, is wanted after Alice, 14, went missing on 28 August. Arnis Zalkalns, 41, was convicted of murder taking his wife, Rudite, to a forest and attacking her with a steel pole and eight-inch knife. He served seven years in jail for the killing, before moving to the UK in 2007. His brother told the BBC: "What I know and what I have read, differ. No-one is interested if he is a good man. "Everyone is looking for a sensation, where he is shown as a monster, a villain. That's what they want." On Thursday detectives will stage a reconstruction of Alice's disappearance - four weeks after she disappeared. Although the investigation team has followed 729 lines of inquiry, spoken to 1,067 people and had more than 1,000 calls, there have been no confirmed sightings of the teenager. The inquiry into Alice's disappearance focused on Mr Zalkalns after he went missing on 3 September without a passport, from Ealing, west London. Latvian court documents about his murder case, which BBC correspondent Damien McGuinness has seen, revealed a psychologist assessed Mr Zalkalns as mentally stable and said he knew exactly what he was doing when he murdered his wife and buried her in a shallow grave. Arnis Zalkalns bludgeoned and stabbed his wife to death in 1998
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