Greater Manchester Police said today a further 12 hours had been granted to question a 14-year-old boy arrested yesterday on suspicion of murder.
Detectives will continue to question him after the disappearance of a fellow pupil aged 11. The suspect was understood to have been hauled out of a classroom just one hour after a body was found in a park in Bury, Greater Manchester.
Police said there was a "strong possibility" that the victim was cystic fibrosis sufferer Joe Geeling, who went missing on his way home from St Gabriel's Roman Catholic School on Wednesday.
The youngster left the school buildings in Bridge Road at about 4pm to walk less than a mile home. The last sighting of him came shortly afterwards on Manchester Road, about half the way along his normal route.
He usually walked with a girl pupil, but was alone because the friend was away from school.
His parents, Tom and Gwen Geeling, raised the alarm when he failed to arrive. They said his disappearance was "extremely out of character" and were worried he might miss out on essential medication.
Joe's father joined search teams in freezing temperatures overnight before a body was discovered in the town's Whitehead Park.
It was found in a overgrown ditch, situated a mile away from the school but in the opposite direction to Joe's home. Forensic officers carried out a fingertip search of the area around the body,.
The boy's grandfather, Thomas Geeling, said the family was "heartbroken".