Sarah Benford: Police dogs used in search for girl missing since 2000

Sarah Benford went missing in 2000 after absconding from a Northampton care home

Police sniffer dogs were on the scene of an excavation site as the search for a teenager who went missing more than 20 years ago went into a fourth day.

Northamptonshire Police are looking for Sarah Benford's body in Kettering.

The victim recovery dogs, which can smell human remains, are the latest tool to be used to try to find the 14-year-old, who went missing from a Northampton care home in April 2000.

Det Supt Joe Banfield said the dig comes after "months of planning".

A murder investigation was launched following Sarah's disappearance.

Specialist police dogs took part in the search for Sarah's body on Thursday

Nobody has ever been charged, despite an initial four-year inquiry including the arrest of a number of suspects and searches in Kettering, London and Wales.

She was last seen by her mother in Kettering on 6 April 2000, two days after absconding from the care home.

Det Supt Joe Banfield said the search followed months of planning

In 2016, police searched a woodland area just outside the town but did not find Sarah's body.

Officers said new intelligence gathered by the force's Major Investigation Team had led to the search at an area of land in Valley Walk.

Northamptonshire Police has said the search could continue for two weeks

The area has been sealed off until the excavation is completed - an operation that could take up to two weeks.

Det Supt Banfield, who is leading the operation, said ground penetrating radar had previously been used to assess the area, with a number of anomalies where something could be buried having been found.

"This is the culmination of months of planning," he said.

"After 21 years, this is unusual. Most murders are solved, but we've never got to the bottom of how Sarah died, who was involved or where she is buried."

He said the dig showed the force would never give up on a live investigation, adding: "I am sure someone in this community knows who killed Sarah."

A family video shows Sarah singing and dancing about 18 months before she disappeared