A man puts the box with the body of a young girl, suspected to be that of 11-year-old Ananda Dean, into the back of a Toyota Hiace minibus. The body was found in a gully in Cyprus Hall, Belvedere, St Andrew, yesterday - Norman Grindley

Uncertainty now lies in the minds of family members of 11-year-old Ananda Dean, who was reported missing on September 17.

This, after the body of a little girl was yesterday found in Cyprus Hall, Belvedere, in St Andrew. Ananda, a sixth-grade student of the Swallowfield All-Age School, who resides in White Hall, St Andrew, went missing more than a week ago.

When contacted about 2 p.m. yesterday, officer in charge of operations at the St Andrew North Police Division, Deputy Super-intendent Carol McKenzie, confirmed that the police had found the body of a little girl.

Decomposed

He, however, noted that the body was too badly decomposed to say if it was the body of little Ananda.

"We have found a body looking like that of a little girl, but it is in a bad state. We can't confirm if it's her," he said. "We're going to do an on-the-spot post-mortem to see what we can come up with."

While many believe it to be to Ananda's body, her father, Richard Dean, is hopeful that his daughter is still alive. "I just can't picture my baby dead. I'm still hoping she will come home to me," the tearful father said.

Proof

But the missing girl's aunt, Tameka Campbell, believes the body is Ananda's because of a school shoe and sock that were also found at the scene.

"We just can't use a shoe to say that it is the girl's body. We will be continuing our investigations," explained DSP McKenzie.