Professional footballers and a television actress are among the friends paying tribute today to murdered teenage model Amy Leigh Barnes in two memorial pages on the social networking site Facebook.

By midday more than 900 people had joined a Facebook group set up in memory of the 19-year-old, including former Hollyoaks actress Hannah Tointon whose brief tribute reads: “R.I.P. x”.

Footballers also left comments on the page, titled "a beautiful girl...with her whole life ahead of her!! RIP amyleigh my angel". Oldham Athletic player Paul Black wrote “r.i.p. x”, while West Bromwich Albion striker Ishmael Miller posted the message: “R.I.P. Amy Leigh”.

A further 650 had joined a second page called "..RIP Amy You Will Never Be Forgotten Babe..xXx"

Miss Barnes, 19, was found suffering from stab wounds at her home in Farnworth, Bolton, on Saturday morning. Hours later she died of her injuries in the Royal Bolton Hospital.

A 21-year-old man was arrested in the West Midlands on suspicion of murder on Saturday night, and was transported 100 miles to Manchester yesterday for further questioning.

Miss Barnes, a former public schoolgirl, had only recently left home to move into her first flat.

She had been taken on to the books of the Nemesis casting and model agency, and had worked on modelling assignments for Nuts, Playboy and Cosmopolitan.

She had also dated the Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy. Other football players on her social networking websites include Fraizer Campbell, of Tottenham Hotspur, Phil Jagielka, of Everton, and Leroy Lita, of Norwich City.

One comment posted on the Facebook memorial group’s message board said: “For those who didn’t know Amy she was one of the most kindest, warm-hearted people...we love you and will miss you.”

Another friend wrote: “She was a bubbly gorgeous girl with her whole life ahead of her. She loved to sing and dance and made a room light up with her smile.”

Another said: “Amy Leigh was the life and soul of the party. She was very popular and loved going out night after night. She knew loads of footballers and went on dates with them.”

A second tribute page was set up today on the memorial website gonetoosoon.org.

Miss Barnes was a former pupil of the Lords Independent School in Bolton. She left school to study performing arts at Pendleton College in Salford and taught drama to young people at the Phoenix charity in Bolton. Until recently she lived with her mother, Karyn, an artist, and her stepfather, John, in Egerton, near Bolton. In an interview with her local newspaper she said: “I want to stick with modelling now. I've been getting more work and my parents are behind me all the way.”

Ms Barnes’s family yesterday paid tribute to the murdered girl. Their statement read: “We, as a family, are absolutely distraught and destroyed more than words can say.

“Words cannot express the pain we are in. We loved our baby so much, she was our reason for living. She was the most beautiful princess.

“We will not rest until justice has been done for our gorgeous daughter. Amy was a very special person and much loved by all her family and friends, of which she had many.”

Giuseppe Digano, manager of Barroccos restaurant in Bolton where Ms Barnes once worked, said: “We were shocked when we heard the news today. It’s not nice to hear.

“She worked here as a waitress a few years ago. She was a nice person, a friendly girl and always nice to customers.”

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