Alice - Inquest Due To Open Today

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Full hearing expected to take place at a much later date

The inquest into the death of Alice Gross will be opened and adjourned this morning.

It's the first stage in the legal process to determine what happened to the Hanwell schoolgirl.

Alice went missing on August 28th after going for a walk along the Grand Union canal.

She was captured on CCTV and shortly afterwards so was Latvian builder, Arnis Zalkalns, who became key suspect.

Despite a massive search and manhunt for Zalkalns the 14-year-old's body wasn't discovered until a month later - hidden in the River Brent.

Zalkans was reported missing a few days after Alice - his badly decomposed body was found at Boston Manor Park on 4 October.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said the investigation into Alice's murder was still "live" with at least two weeks to go before searches are complete.

It is the largest police operation carried out by British police since the aftermath of the 7 July bombings on London's transport system.

A post-mortem examination on Alice's body has not revealed the cause of death and further tests are being carried out.

Inquest proceedings will officially open at West London Coroner's Court, but are expected to then be adjourned until the full hearing will take place at a later date.

10th October 2014