Two men seen near the site of Milly's body

A middle-aged man seen carrying a shovel near the wood where the remains of Amanda Dowler were found may hold clues to the identity of the 13-year-old's killer, police said yesterday.

Detectives also want to trace a man with mud on his jacket seen walking close to Yateley Heath Woods in Hampshire a few days after Amanda, also known as Milly, vanished.

The teenager, who was last seen on her way home in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey on 21 March, is thought to have been the victim of a chance abduction. Two mushroom-pickers found her skull and scattered bones in the wood, 25 miles from her home, two weeks ago.

The first man was wearing a thigh-length, green parka-like jacket with a hood and was spotted near the Ely pub on the A30 on 24 March. The man was described as aged between 45 and 50, 5ft 10ins tall, and of medium build. A makeshift camp containing bottles, cans, old food and a sleeping bag was found in the woods nearby.

The second man was seen nearby wearing a black leather coat and may also have been camping in the woodland. The man, aged in his 30s, was seen at a roundabout on the exit route from Elvetham Heath Estate going towards Ancells Farm Estate, shortly after 11am on either 27 or 28 March.

The man, who was white and about 6ft tall with dark, neatly cut hair, was wearing black trousers and black shoes. He had mud on his clothes, especially his jacket, and there was a "rolled-up item" on the ground nearby. A second makeshift camp was found in this area. Police are still searching the area around the site. The body is thought to have been left uncovered in undergrowth and the bones were later scattered by animals.