Breakthrough in search for Milly's killer

Detectives are closing in on the killer of schoolgirl Milly Dowler after a major breakthrough in the murder investigation.

Officers are to make a vital appeal for new information on the eve of the third anniversary of the 13-year-old's disappearance.

The crucial development centres around a red N-reg Daewoo Nexia car which was seen yards from where Milly was last spotted in Station Avenue, Waltonon-Thames.

The car was seen parked in the street half an hour before Milly vanished as she walked home from school on 21 March 2002.

Police are to release a CCTV image of the vehicle which has been enhanced by FBI experts in the US.

The car was later caught on CCTV driving away from the scene with apparently only one person in the vehicle.

Surrey detectives have launched a massive hunt for the vehicle but so far without success. Detectives fear the car has now been either scrapped, crushed or burned.

They are hoping someone who may have helped to destroy it will come forward, or even that the car has been kept in storage.

In another development, officers investigating Milly's murder are liaising with Metropolitan Police officers in connection with a series of other criminal inquiries in London. Milly was last seen waving goodbye to friends at Walton rail station before setting off for home. Police believe she was snatched almost immediately somewhere along a 50 yard stretch of road.

Her body was found six months later by mushroom pickers 20 miles away in woodland near Fleet, Hampshire.

Despite extensive searches, her clothes or mobile phone have not been found. A post mortem into how she died proved inconclusive but there were no obvious signs of injury.

The new appeal is a dramatic breakthrough for investigators after the trail of clues appeared to have gone cold. After Milly's disappearance detectives concentrated on people and motorists caught on CCTV in Station Avenue at the time.

A number of convicted killers and rapists have been named as possible suspects - including Soham killer Ian Huntley and M25 rapist Antoni Imiela. However, all have been ruled out and police believe the killer is still at large.

Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.