Police are today expected to confirm that the body found in an Ayrshire burn last week is that of missing local woman Anne Brown.
A murder inquiry has been launched and detectives are following a definite line of inquiry.
As reported on Monday by stv news, the body found wrapped in black bin liners is the 51-year-old grandmother from Burnhouse, North Ayrshire. The body was discovered on Friday at Craignaught Farm, near Dunlop, East Ayrshire.
The post-mortem examination led to a murder investigation and forensics officers spent most of Monday searching Ms Brown's home. Detectives were initially reluctant to associate the discovery of the body with the missing woman but later acknowledged a link could not be ruled out.
The body had been in the water for some time, meaning identification took longer than usual. No physical identification was possible because the body was badly decomposed, stv news learned. It is believed DNA was used to confirm the identity of the body.
Ms Brown was reported missing from her mother's home in Fenwick on October 18. She was guardian to her 20-month-old grandson, John, who was traced on Saturday safe and well with his 21-year-old mother at her home in Glasgow.
Ms Brown had been planning to travel to her Burnhouse home but her car - a black Ford Focus - was found blocking the road the next day. The car appeared to have been abandoned in a hurry, indicating the woman's killer was disturbed before he could move the vehicle.
