A MAN was arrested yesterday after the dismembered body of a missing teenager was found in a suitcase near a Kent railway station.

Terry Edmonds, 17, vanished 12 days ago and last night police were searching the home of her boyfriend, Nigel Fitzgerald, 26. Terry was on her way to meet him in Tunbridge Wells when she disappeared on Easter Monday. Her body was found on Saturday.

Police yesterday were examining the house that Mr Fitzgerald, a restaurant worker, shares with his mother, Linda, his teenage sister and her boyfriend in Hadlow, near Tonbridge.

A spokesperson later confirmed that a local man had been arrested.

Terry appears to have been a bright student from a troubled background. She had eight A-grade GCSEs, attended the Hugh Christie Technology College in Tonbridge and hoped to become a nurse.

After disagreements with her mother, she left home in January and was given a onebedroom flat at the Christian Alliance Housing Association hostel in Clarence Road, Tunbridge Wells, which is parallel to Vale Road, where her body was found. It caters for homeless teenage girls as well as single women with children.

Detectives had recently stepped up the search for Terry, announcing last Friday that they feared that she had been abducted.

Her mother, Helen Edmonds, and her former stepfather, Paul Garty, made an emotional appeal for her return.

Ms Edmonds told a press conference last week: “She was supposed to be meeting her boyfriend in Tunbridge Wells. She texted him to say that she was on her way. No one has seen her or heard from her since.”

Appealing to her daughter, she said: “I love you. There’s no problem in the world that cannot be sorted out if you get in touch. Just come home. That is all we want.”

Describing Terry, she added: “She’s bright, beautiful, headstrong, confident, mature for her age and could make friends with anyone.” Ms Edmonds laid flowers yesterday at the scene where her daughter’s body was found.

Mr Fitzgerald said last week that he had last seen his girlfriend when he dropped her off outside the branch of Pizza Hut in Tunbridge Wells where he worked. Speaking to a local newspaper before the body was found, he said that he had dropped Terry off at 12.20pm on Easter Monday outside the restaurant. He said that he later received a text message from her saying that she was going to Maidstone and then another saying that she was on her way to Tonbridge. He was expecting to meet her later that day. He said: “Terry said she wanted to talk to me about something but that it wasn’t bad and we could talk after work.”

Yesterday a uniformed police officer was guarding the small, modern terraced house where Mr Fitzgerald lives.

A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: “The police turned up here on Saturday afternoon. There was at least one dressed in a white suit who went inside the house. I think they’ve been there all night and they seem to be searching the house.”

Another neighbour, Tony Burchell, 73, said: “Nigel has had quite a lot of girlfriends. I’ve seen him with this girl Terry but I would say she was just one of his girlfriends. I think there are a couple of young girls around here who he has been seeing as well.”

A police spokeswoman said: “A post-mortem has taken place but, for operational reasons, the cause of death will not be released at this time. We are carrying out a number of inquiries at various locations. We would like to hear from anyone who has been in Vale Road in the last few days and has seen anything suspicious.”

• The uncle of a woman whose body was found in a suitcase in a Birmingham garden has been charged with her murder.

  The remains of Banaz Mahmod Babakir Agha, 20, who went missing from her home in Mitcham, South London, on January 23, were discovered during a search of a property in Handsworth.

  Scotland Yard said last night that Ari Mahmod Babakir Aga, 50, had been charged with the murder of his niece. The businessman, from Mitcham, in Surrey, is due to appear at Woolwich Magistrates’ Court tomorrow. A 29-year-old man has already been charged with murder.

  Detectives suspect that Miss Agha, who was Kurdish, was killed after an arranged marriage went wrong.

  Police went to a derelict house in Handsworth on Friday. With the help of West Midlands Fire Service, they cordoned off a rear garden and dug down 5ft to reach a suitcase in which they discovered the body.

  Detectives from the Metropolitan Police feared that Miss Agha had been murdered as they knew that she had not withdrawn any money from her bank or taken a change of clothing or passport.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• UK regional accents thrive against the odds
• ‘Scarecrow’ wind farms put rare birds to flight
• What an anti-climax: G-spot is a myth