FORENSIC EXPERTS are examining charred remains discovered near to the spot where Irish schoolgirl Amy Fitzpatrick went missing in Spain over a year ago.
A local made the find on Sunday lunchtime as he was out walking near the Costa del Sol resort of Mijas. Police say they have yet to determine the gender and age of the victim.
A source for Malaga’s Civil Guard, which is investigating, said: “At the moment we’re not sure if the victim is a man or a woman, neither do we have any indication of their age.
“A team of forensic experts are working round the clock to try to come up with those answers. The body had been badly ravaged by fire, and all that remained were part of the torso and the skull.
“There’s nothing to indicate at this stage the body may be Amy Fitzpatrick’s and we’re not going to rule anything out until we’ve managed to establish an identity or at least the sex of the victim.
“But the area this body was discovered in was well searched when Amy went missing.”
The remains were found inside a sewage pipe near Mijas football stadium where a massive search for Amy took place shortly after she went missing on New Year’s Day 2008.
Amy’s mother Audrey said: “I am aware a body has been discovered and the search for Amy soon after she went missing was started from the football stadium.
“But I’ve spoken to the Guardia Civil and they’re telling me the body is that of a man.
“I’m confident it’s not Amy’s. For me nothing has changed. I’m still praying nothing bad’s happened to her and she’ll come home one day soon.”
Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared aged 15 as she walked home from a friend’s house where she had been babysitting the night before. She is thought to have taken a short cut along an unlit path to reach her home.
She vanished with just the clothes she was wearing and no passport or money.