Alice - Full Inquest To Be Held Next Year

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Hearing opened and adjourned this morning

The full inquest into the death of Alice Gross has been set for January next year.

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

Her body was found on 30 September.

The teenager's mother, Rosalind Hodgkiss, 50, was at West London Coroner's Court this morning for the brief hearing as the inquest was opened and adjourned.

The court heard that Alice's body was found by London Fire Brigade divers, wrapped and weighted down in the River Brent. A post-mortem examination has proved inconclusive and more tests are being carried out.

Coroner's officer John Chadwick told the court Alice had been identified through dental records.

Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect in the killing, was found hanged in a west London park on 4 October.

The 41-year-old Latvian builder had served seven years in prison in his native country for bludgeoning and stabbing his wife Rudite to death, before moving to the UK in 2007.

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.

Coroner Chinyere Inyama says, ''Clearly there are other investigations ongoing, including the police inquiry."

He adjourned the hearing to 29 January next year.

10th October 2014