POLICE have confirmed the body of missing teenager Danielle Jones is not buried beneath a Stifford Clays garage block.

A week which began with hope that Danielle Jones’ body could have been buried beneath a Stifford Clays garage block drew to a close.

It began with the force cordoning off access to the site nestled between Goddard Road and Crammavill Street early on Monday morning to search for the missing East Tilbury teenager's body, 16 years after she disappeared.

Her uncle Stuart Campbell was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder, but has refused to cooperate with police over where Danielle's body is buried.

Contractors arrived and placed metal fencing around about 20 bases which were part of the search.

Danielle’s parents Linda and Tony were taken to the area, about the size of a football pitch, later that afternoon.

Letters were sent to neighbouring residents warning of disruption due to the investigation. 

After a day of priming the site for digging and drilling, the forensic and archaeology specialists got to work over two days of digging bases mooted as areas which could have had Danielle’s body. 

Steven Worron, Assistant Chief Constable head of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate confirmed that the searching had been to no avail before sending in the police sniffer dog on Thursday, before confirming on Friday that the search at the site had been concluded.

He said: “We were at this site acting on a credible line of enquiry following the information passed to us in February.

“Forensic searches have been completed along with investigations using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and lastly searches using a specialist search dog.

“I completely stand by my decision to search this area. Not to search would have meant there would always have been a question mark over whether Danielle’s body could have been buried here.

“I cannot begin to imagine how difficult this week has been for Danielle’s family. Our activity here has reopened old wounds and thrust them in to the media spotlight again, 16 years after Danielle’s disappearance.

“Sadly we have been unable to end the pain they have continued to experience and we are no closer to knowing where Danielle is. But we will continue to be there to support them as we have since Danielle went missing.

“The next steps for us will be to review the case and determine whether there are any other investigative avenues for us to take to continue our search for Danielle.

“We will also continue to look at the reasons why this area did not form part of the original searches in 2001.”

Mr Worron added that the force was "really grateful for all the support" received from the local community in Stifford Clays.