.Amber Peat, 13, left her home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, on Saturday
- .She argued with parents over chores minutes before she disappeared
- .Police found a body last night but are not treating death as suspicious
- .Friends have left floral tributes but locals have questioned why police did not find the body earlier
Neighbours of missing schoolgirl Amber Peat today questioned why police took three days to find her body, which was discovered last night on a patch of land between two busy roads.
Devastated friends have paid tribute to the teenager, who stormed out of her home on Saturday following a row about household chores, a day after returning from a half-term family holiday to Cornwall.
Today classmates left flowers and other objects at the foot of a tree near the hedgerow on Westfield Lane in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire where forensic officers set up a tent last night and are still guarding a cordoned-off area.
Locals asked why it had taken so long to discover the body, with many saying that they had passed the site multiple times without noticing anything amiss.
Tragic: Amber Peat, pictured right as a bridesmaid at the wedding of her mother Kelly and stepfather Danny in 2013, has been found dead near her home in Mansfield
Tribute: Two mourners at the scene where a body was found in the search for Amber last night
Gifts: Flowers and teddy bears were placed at the scene near to where Amber's body was found
Yolanda Cassidy, who lives nearby, told the BBC: 'It is a very public area. I went shopping on Monday and walked across there. People are back and forth, it's a nearly a main road, people go up and down, I can't believe she's been there since Saturday.'
Donna Jones added: 'I went out looking for her yesterday and I walked past here with my dogs and there was nothing to say she was there.'
And neighbour Neil Matthews said: 'I woke up on Monday night and looked out of the window. It was a full moon and the bushes were lit up but I didn't see anything. It is strange to think a 13-year-old cannot be seen.'
A police source said that Amber's body was not initially visible from the path, but was found deep inside the hedgerow. A spokesman said: 'The body would not have been found without an extensive search.'
A message from classmates attached to flowers at the site this morning read: 'I hope your parents find the strength to find peace... Hope the angels make you smile.'
Another said: 'Sleep tight angel. May you rest in peace.'
Grief: A mourner lays flowers at the foot of a tree near the site in Mansfield
Touching: Classmates of Amber left a note attached to a bunch of flowers at the scene
Message: One well-wisher wrote a card to Amber calling her an 'angel' and adding 'rest in peace'
Rianna Richards, 12, was in tears after she laid flowers in memory of her friend accompanied by her mother Sharon.
'She was a nice person, she was funny,' Rianna said, adding that Amber did not appear to have anything on her mind when she last saw her.
Mourners Trudy Stockhard and Kate Byard said: 'We are numb. We spent two nights looking for her. We can't find any words at all to explain what happened.
'While we didn't know her we came to search for her yesterday and on Monday. The community has all come together in their efforts to find her.
'Where she was found was just very strange. You just have to think what must the parents be going through.'
Friends of Amber's mother Kelly and stepfather Danny took to social media to express their condolences to the grieving family.
Clare Barnett wrote: 'My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this difficult time, I pray that you find strength in each other to help you through this unimaginably difficult and painful time.'
Body found in search: Amber Peat disappeared from her home in Mansfield on Saturday evening
Clues: Police pictured today searching around the area where Amber's body was found
Query: Locals have questioned why it took so long to find Amber after she went missing on Saturday
Superintendent Matt McFarlane, who was in charge of the search for Amber, today thanked the hundreds of selfless volunteers who emerged to help in the hunt.
He added: 'From the moment Amber was reported missing our teams worked tirelessly alongside the community to try and find her.
'Over four hundred officers and staff, including those from our five neighbouring East Midlands forces, were looking for her. Sadly this was not the outcome that any of us were hoping for. Our thoughts are with Amber's family.'
A post-mortem examination will take place later today, Supt McFarlane said.
The headmaster at Amber's school, Queen Elizabeth's Academy, mourned the 'bright' pupil who 'loved singing and dancing'.
Mike Smith said: 'Our school community is deeply shocked and saddened to hear a body has been found in the search for one of our Year 8 students, Amber Peat.
'Amber has been a student at the school since September. Academically bright, she has been in the academy choir and has loved singing and dancing.
'Students who have been particularly affected are being supported by staff and trained counsellors.'
Probe: Last night forensic officers set up a white and blue tent (above) around a hedgerow on Westfield Lane
Investigation: Police officers cordoned off a road in Mansfield and erected a forensics tent
Standing guard: Police on the scene in Mansfield during the investigation into Amber's disappearance
Nottinghamshire Police announced last night that they were calling off the search for Amber after finding a body a mile away from her home.
The family were informed of the discovery but no formal identification had taken place.
After finding the body, Nottinghamshire Police said they were not treating the death as suspicious.
The quiet and bookish youngster had no mobile phone or money when she vanished. Officers had retrieved no CCTV footage of her and there had been no reported sightings.
Mr Peat, 31, reportedly said she may have been inspired to leave by a book she was reading before she left the family home.
Lola Rose by popular children’s author Jacqueline Wilson tells of a young girl who runs away to London with her mother and brother.
Anguish: Amber's mother Kelly and stepfather Danny at a press conference yesterday, before the body was found
Shy: Amber's family said the youngster was quiet, loved books and rarely went out on her own
Row: The couple described how they had had an argument with Amber before her disappearance
Earlier in the day, Amber’s parents had said they were ‘petrified’ for her safety as they made an emotional appeal for her to come home.
At a televised press conference, the couple revealed the argument over chores happened at 5.30pm on Saturday.
Mrs Peat, 34, said: ‘We were in the living room and I heard the front door slam, I went to the door and looked outside but I couldn’t see her. She had just gone.’
Mr Peat said: ‘We told her to clean a cool box out that we had sandwiches in for the journey home. I’m sure all teenagers are the same, she didn’t want to do a chore. That was the last conversation.’
Describing Amber, Mr Peat said: ‘She doesn’t really go out. All she ever wants to do is read a book. If she gets five minutes she sits down anywhere and reads.
‘It doesn’t matter whether it’s a newspaper or reading to her sister.’
Hunt: Volunteers from the family's community pictured during the search for her this week
Community search: Hundreds of people, many who do not know the family, had been looking for Amber
He added of the holiday to Newquay: ‘She had a fantastic time, never stopped laughing with all of us together.’
Amber’s mother married Mr Peat in 2013 and the couple have a daughter Lily Rose, aged one.
Last year, Mr Peat, who is unemployed, was jailed for 16 months over a tax fraud which netted him £78,000.
It is understood he did not serve the full sentence and was released earlier this year. Amber did not have any contact with her natural father who lives in Scotland.
She has another sister Riley, 12, who also lives at the family’s three-bedroom council house.
Hundreds of residents had been scouring the local area and cars across Mansfield were covered in posters with Amber’s face on them.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, members of a search party revealed that Mr Peat had told them Amber may have been inspired by the novel she was reading by Jacqueline Wilson.
Scores of volunteers from the local area had joined the search, walking nearby streets with leaflets
Home: Amber lives with her family on Bosworth Street in Mansfield, pictured
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