Police await tests on murdered girl's clothes

Police investigating the murder of Johanna Young, aged 14, are hoping that scientific examination of her clothing will yield vital evidence in the hunt for her killer.

Johanna's partly-clothed body was discovered on Boxing Day, floating in a waterlogged pit in woods close to her home in Watton, near Dereham, Norfolk. A post-mortem examination found that she died from drowning and had been beaten and sexually assaulted.

Underwear and other items of clothing were found at the scene and are currently being examined by forensic scientists. Police are anxious to find her jeans, and also to trace anyone who may have moved her shoes - which were placed neatly by a path - in the three days between her disappearance and the discovery of her body. 'We can't believe they were left there like that by the murderer in the turmoil of all that happened that night,' a police spokesman said.