The highly trained victim identification dogs from South Wales Police were drafted in to search the property in Bristol today
Specialist sniffer dogs used in the hunt for Madeleine McCann and April Jones have been used to search the home of missing teen Becky Watts.
The highly trained victim identification dogs from South Wales Police were drafted in to search the property in Bristol today.
The dogs were first seen being led to the back of the house into the garden by officers wearing blue and white overalls.
The two spaniels were repeatedly taken from a large white van parked outside the family home and could be seen going in and out of the house throughout the afternoon as the search intensified.
Today the mum of missing schoolgirl Becky Watts also revealed the schoolgirl went missing on her brother’s birthday.
Below: Sniffer dog search for Maddie McCann last year
Tanya Watts, who lives nearby, says Becky vanished on her brother Danny’s 20th birthday.
She also pleaded with her daughter to come home and said: “Becky I love you dearly.
“You’re my little girl and I want you home safely. I want to give you a big hug.
“It’s just hard not knowing. The police are doing all they can. It’s just waiting for some news. It’s awful.”
Tanya added that the disappearance was completely out of character for the teenager and she could not understand what had happened although admitted she had vanished before.
She said: “Darren has looked after her for the past 13 years.
“She went missing on her brother, Danny’s, birthday, which is very upsetting.
“I was expecting her to come over and get her pocket money.
“I didn’t hear anything from her and then I heard she had gone missing.
“I’m totally in the dark really. I have no idea where she might be.
“It’s just the waiting.”
Earlier in the day it emerged Becky’s dad had posted a disturbing message on Facebook as the search of the home he shared with the teen in Bristol continued.
The Facebook message suggested she could be the victim of a sex attack - and warning people to look out for her BLOOD.
Becky, 16, disappeared from her father Darren Galsworthy’s home a week ago and has not been seen or heard from since.
Mr Galsworthy, 51, posted the unusual message on her profile page on Wednesday morning - six days after she vanished.
The note - written it in block capital letters and repeated three times in just 11 minutes - asked women to watch out for blood on family member’s underwear.
He wrote: “THIS IS A MESSAGE TO ALL WIFES MOTHERS AND GIRLFRIENDS IT WAS MY BABY GIRLS TIME OF THE MONTH SO IF YOU HAVE WASHED ANY BLOOD FROM YOUR PARTNERS OR SONS UNDERWEAR AND THEY CANT EXPLAIN IT PLEASE IMAGINE IF THIS WAS YOUR CHILD WHAT WOULD YOU DO PLEASE REPORT IT.”
The detective in charge of the hunt for Becky today refused to be drawn on the Facebook posts of her father.
Asked if he would be commenting on the repeated message referring to her blood DI Richard Ocone simply said: “No.”
DI Ocone said he could not confirm who the last person to see the 16-year-old was and who was in the house when she is said to have left.
He added police had yet to find any confirmed sightings of CCTV images of the girl following her disappearance.
The police officer was keen to reiterate that the case was still being treated as a missing person enquiry and no-one had been arrested.
He said: “This is very much a missing persons inquiry. We have nothing to show that Rebecca has come to any harm.
“Clearly we’d like to find and return her as soon as we can.
“We haven’t arrested anyone. This is a missing persons enquiry and that’s the thing to reinforce.”