Missing Alice Gross: Bike of Murderer Arnis Zalkalns Found in Search for Hanwell Teenager

The mountain bike of convicted murderer Arnis Zalkalns who is suspected in the disappearance of teenager Alice Gross has been found.

Zalkalns was seen riding the bike along Brentford Lock at 4pm, some 15 minutes after Alice walked the same route the day she disappeared on 28 August.

The 41-year-old builder, who was convicted of murder in his native Latvia in 1998, has not been seen since leaving his home in Ealing on 3 September.

He has not accessed his bank account or used his mobile phone since and his passport was left at his house.

A Metropolitan Police Service spokeswoman told IBTimes UK they were no longer looking for the bike but could not divulge where or when it was found due to operational matters.

The last sighting of Alice, 14, was at 4.26pm on 28 August when she was caught on CCTV on Trumpers Way, the bridge that crosses the Grand Union Canal, as she seemingly made her way towards her home in Hanwell, west London.

She texted her father asking if he was at home because she had forgotten her house key, in her final iPhone message before going missing.

The text, which was sent an hour and a half before she disappeared, suggests Alice was planning to return home after she went for a walk.

Her discarded rucksack was found on a path beside the River Brent on 2 September.