Jersey police hunt for more bodies

Officers acting on intelligence that arose from a child abuse investigation are searching the grounds of Haut de la Garenne, a former children's home in St Martin on the island of Jersey.

They are concentrating their search on one particular area of the building after work by a sniffer dog detected the remains through several inches of concrete.

Jersey's deputy chief police officer, Lenny Harper, said the intelligence was unclear as to how many bodies may be found but added after finding the remains they planned to continue the search for two weeks.

"We received intelligence relating to people here and the dog gave us positive indications of areas we might be interested in," he said. "We are concentrating on one area and that is where we found the remains. We do not know if the body is male or female or how they met their end but we have to treat this as a possible major crime. The intelligence was not specific, it is unclear whether there could be one or more bodies."

The child's body parts were found inside the house on the east coast of the Channel Island by a team of specialist officers but an exact location has not been given.

Mr Harper said an examination by an anthropologist at the scene had concluded that the remains were not that of an adult or infant.

A police spokeswoman said the remains were sent to the UK for dating.

She said: "That process is going to take some time. All we can say at this stage it that we believe they have been there for more than five years."

Mr Harper said their investigation began in November last year when a number of former members of staff were arrested on suspicion of paedophile crimes.