Teenage girl 'strangled and hidden in haystack'

The teenager Laura Torn was strangled before her fully clothed body was put in a haystack and covered with straw, police said yesterday.

Police confirmed last night that the young woman found on Wednesday afternoon off a rough farm track near the village of Misson in Nottinghamshire was Ms Torn, 18.

She had been placed between two haystacks before being covered over and is believed to have been there for more than a week.

Ms Torn was last seen in Owston Ferry market square after leaving the Crooked Billet pub in the early hours of 27 April.

Detective Inspector Steve Clay of Humberside Police said: "A member of Owston Ferry community said something specifically for us to start searching haystacks three days ago." There was no evidence Ms Torn had been sexually assaulted and the inquiry would now focus on the recovery of her personal belongings.

Her family were being comforted yesterday at their home in Owston Ferry, Lincolnshire. In a statement, Peter and Heather Torn said: "We are devastated by the news and we are struggling to take it in and come to terms with it. It is a difficult time and we just do not know what to say."

Police were questioning a man, 31, arrested on suspicion of the murder of Ms Torn.