By NBC News staff
Press Association via met.polic
Stuart Hazell, 37, is wanted for questioning in what is now a murder enquiry.
Police searching for missing British schoolgirl Tia Sharp found a body in her grandmother's south London home Friday and now are hunting for the grandmother?s boyfriend.
Metropolitan Police issued a statement saying Stuart Hazell, 37, is wanted for questioning in what is now a murder investigation. Police asked the public to call officers rather than approach Hazell directly. He had been questioned Wednesday and was released, and his whereabouts are unknown, police said.
Matthew Lloyd / Getty Images
Tia Sharp, 12, has been missing in Britain since Aug. 3. A body was found Friday at her grandmother's home.
Officials are trying to determine the identity of the body and how the person died, police said.
Tia Sharp, 12, has been missing since Aug. 3.
No arrests have been made, police said.
Police searched the home of the grandmother, Christine Sharp, 46, three times before the body was discovered, Commander Neil Basu said Friday.
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?When Tia was first reported missing, officers searched her bedroom as is normal practice in a missing persons enquiry,? Basu said. ?A further search of the house took place in the early hours of Sunday morning by a specialist team. This was then followed by another search of the house by specialist dogs on Wednesday lunchtime.?
Matthew Lloyd / Getty Images
Christine Sharp, the grandmother of missing Tia Sharp, leaves her home accompanied by detectives on Friday in New Addington, England.
He said police are trying to determine how long the body had been in place before it was found.
The Friday search, he said, was done in full cooperation with Tia Sharp?s family.
?Our priority is to support the family of Tia at this distressing time and identify the body which has been discovered, as quickly as possible,? he said.
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The BBC reported that Tia Sharp visited her grandmother?s house regularly and was believed to be alone with Hazell while her grandmother was at work the night before she disappeared.
Hazell on Wednesday told police Tia Sharp had set off shopping for flip-flops on Aug. 3, but investigators later said she did not show up on surveillance video.
On Thursday, in a television interview, Hazell denied having anything to do with her disappearance.
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