Joanna Yeates was murdered, say police

Missing landscape architect Joanna Yeates was murdered, police said this afternoon.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones said the results of a post mortem showed that the 25-year-old had been strangled.

Her body had been left on a road-side verge for several days.

The results of the post mortem examination were delayed until today because of the frozen condition of Miss Yeates' body, which was found on Christmas Day.

Det Chf Insp Jones, said:?"Somebody out there does know what happened to Joanna. What we have to do is find out why she was killed and who was responsible."

Police said they were keeping an open mind with regards to whether there had been a sexual assault.

Yesterday Miss Yeates' distraught parents visited the site where their daughter's body was discovered. David, 63, and Theresa Yeates, 58, laid a bouquet of yellow roses with a picture of their daughter on her graduation at the scene and embraced as they wiped away tears. They were accompanied by Miss Yeates' boyfriend Greg Reardon, 27.

The body was formally identified as the landscape architect by her family.

Meanwhile, detectives have been examining CCTV from one of Britain's most famous landmarks.

Officers looked at footage from Clifton suspension bridge, on the main route from Miss Yeates' home to where she was found.

Miss Yeates, from Clifton, had not been seen since December 17 when CCTV footage showed her in a Tesco store on her way home to her flat in Canynge Road.

A couple walking their dogs on Christmas morning found her body as they walked along Longwood Lane, close to Bristol and Clifton Golf Club, in Failand, North Somerset – about three miles from where Miss Yeates lived.

The last known sighting of Miss Yeates was on CCTV as she bought a pizza at a branch of Tesco Express.