Milly DNA tests draw a blank

Police hunting the killer of Milly Dowler said that testing of 46 men associated with a church in the North East had not found a match for mystery DNA found on the schoolgirl's clothing.

The unidentified male DNA, discovered on an item of Milly's clothing recovered from her bedroom, had been matched to DNA found by chance at the scene of a burglary at a church in Sunderland.

Officers from Surrey Police took DNA samples from 46 male worshippers and people linked to the church in the Ryhope area of the city two weeks ago in a bid to find a match.

A spokeswoman for the force said that the testing at the Forensic Science Service had shown there was no match between any of the 46 men and the DNA on 13-year-old Milly's clothing.

The spokeswoman said: "Surrey Police has now received the results of the 46 DNA samples taken from men in the Ryhope area of Sunderland.

"This initial swabbing has not revealed a match to the DNA obtained from St Paul's church and from an item of Milly's clothing.

"Detectives from Operation Ruby will be travelling to Sunderland in the near future to liaise with local police with a view to further investigative and intelligence work around this line of inquiry."

Operation Ruby is the codename for the Surrey Police investigation into the murder of Milly Dowler, who disappeared while walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames on March 21 last year.

Her remains were discovered in woods in Hampshire last September.

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