Yesterday, investigators staged a reconstruction of the moments the teenager was last captured on CCTV at 4.26pm on August 28, going under a bridge where Trumpers Way crosses the canal.
Alice’s parents Rosalind Hodgkiss, 50, and Jose Gross, 60, yesterday made a desperate renewed appeal for help in finding the schoolgirl.
Ms Hodgkiss, a teacher, said: “This has obviously been a very distressing time for the whole family and every morning as Alice’s disappearance grows longer and longer brings new agony, new anguish.
“We’re coping as best we can and we’re trying to keep hopeful. We’re making an appeal today to Alice, if she can hear us, that we want her to come home, that we miss her and love her.”
A police officer walks in the park where the forensic tent has been erected Picture: Alex Lentati
The manhunt for the prime suspect in her disappearance, convicted murderer Arnis Zalkans, is continuing.
He was seen on CCTV riding over a canal bridge at Brentford Lock 15 minutes after the teenager walked across.
The 41 year old Latvian went missing from his Ealing home on September 3.
Police officers on duty in the park Picture: Alex Lentati
Police are currently staging a search which is the largest use of such resources since the aftermath of the July 7 bombings, with hundreds of officers involved in an operation that includes scouring dozens of miles of waterways and riverbanks.
Speaking at the spot where Alice was last seen, Detective Superintendent Carl Mehta said she was “power walking” along the towpath.
Reconstruction: a police cadet repeats the last known movements of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross (Picture: Getty)
He said: “Alice’s walk was quite distinctive that day - she walked along the footpath quite fast, swinging her arms. One could describe it as a power walk.
“We know that at 4.26pm that Thursday she passed underneath this bridge. That is the last confirmed sighting of Alice.
“What I really need help from the public about is what happened after this point - Where did Alice go? Did you see anybody with her?”
