Murder inquiry opened after man is arrested

A man aged 31 was arrested yesterday on suspicion of murdering a teenager who went missing from a village in Lincolnshire nine days ago.

Laura Torn, 18, was last seen walking home from her local pub in Owston Ferry by the river Trent in north Lincolnshire in the early hours of 27 April. Despite not finding a body, the police are treating the case as a murder inquiry.

The suspect, a local man, was being questioned yesterday by detectives at Scunthorpe police station.

The missing woman was seen at 12.45am on Sunday 27 April after she left the Crooked Billet pub, near to where she lived with her parents. She is said to have argued with a man in the pub earlier in the evening.

A police spokeswoman said: "A 31-year-old man has been arrested today on suspicion of the murder of 18-year-old Laura Torn. The man, from the Isle of Axholme area, is in custody at Scunthorpe police station.

"Police have now officially launched a murder inquiry. Up to this point, the incident had remained a missing persons inquiry. Police are continuing to search for Laura."

Humberside police officers have made an extensive search of the area, including a five-mile stretch of the Trent. So far the only trace of the teenager is one of her boots, discovered on the bank of the river just below the waterline.

On Friday, Laura's parents, Peter and Heather, made an appeal for help, saying there was "no reason in the world" why she should go missing.

The couple said their daughter was a "happy, normal teenager" who had been "happy and jovial" that night.

Police say Laura's parents left the Crooked Billet at 10pm on Saturday 26 April with her 13-year-old brother Martin, but Laura stayed with friends.

The vicar of Owston Ferry, the Reverend Jean Staff, said after leaving the Torns' home: "Everyone is deeply upset by what is happening. It's the not knowing which makes it all the more difficult."