Truck is linked to murdered teenager

Detectives were trying yesterday to trace the driver of a dumper truck spotted near where the murdered teenager Hannah Foster was discovered in undergrowth.

A motorist told officers he was forced to brake because the truck was driving in the middle of the road, a mile from where Hannah was found. The truck was seen at 7.30am on Saturday, more than eight hours after the student was walking towards her home in Portswood, Southampton, after a night out with friends.

The motorist also told police that he had seen a taxi on the road and officers now want to speak to the two drivers.

Police also revealed Hannah died at least 24 hours before she was found on Sunday afternoon. A post-mortem examination showed she had been strangled but did not reveal any signs of sexual assault.

Officers are still hoping to trace at least one Asian man who approached her twice in the past two months near her home. Another Asian man has been eliminated from the inquiry after telling officers that he approached the 17-year-old nine months ago.

Hannah was last seen at 10.50pm last Friday, while she waited with her friend at a bus stop. After her friend's bus arrived, she started a short walk home.

Ten minutes later a 999 call was made from her mobile phone but she did not speak and only muted sounds were heard.

A team of 100 detectives and uniform officers are continuing to check CCTV footage to trace her last movements.

They are also still hoping to find anyone who saw her mobile phone and green satchel-style handbag being dumped in a bottle bank in Portsmouth. The items were found on Monday in the Onyx recycling sorting centre in Quatremaine Road.

Her parents Trevor, 53, and Hilary, 46, described their daughter as a graceful girl who only wanted to help others. She was at sixth-form college and had been accepted to study medicine at university.