MURDER detectives have carried out further searches near where seven-year-old Katie Rough was found.

Officers searched a path through woods off Acomb Wood Drive on Thursday, they said on Friday.

They also said their appeal for information had generated a number of calls.

A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: "We have had a positive response from the appeal. All calls are being followed up and officers thank the public for providing information."

She said the search of the path had been completed, and house-to-house enquiries were ongoing.

On Wednesday, police had used using a metal detector in the field behind Alness Drive and Osprey Close between Foxwood and Woodthorpe.

York Press:

Picture: Google Earth

Floral tributes have been growing all week at Alness Drive, where Katie was found, and a fundraising page set up for Katie's family has now raised more than £20,000.

York Press:

Floral tributes and teddy bears left at the scene Picture: Frank Dwyer

A 15-year-old girl has been charged with Katie's murder and with possession of an offensive weapon, namely a stanley knife.

She appeared at York Magistrates Court on Wednesday and at Leeds Crown Court on Friday.

She was accompanied in the dock at the magistrates court by Nigel Pepper of the Youth Offending Team.

The defendant has a legal right to anonymity due to her age.

Katie was found with serious injuries in a field behind Alness Drive in Woodthorpe on Monday afternoon and died in hospital.

The scene, in Alness Drive, remained cordoned off on Wednesday, with police officers continuing with investigations.

York Press:

A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said on Monday evening: "Katie’s family are devastated by this tragic event and have asked for their privacy to be respected at this extremely distressing time.

"Police are appealing for witnesses who were in the area of Morrell Court, Belhouse Way, Osprey Close and Alness Drive between 3pm and 5pm on Monday and may have seen two girls, one aged 15-years-old and the other seven-years-old, to get in touch."

Katie's grandparents  left floral tributes at the scene, with a note reading: "Night night, my darling princess".

Tracey Ralph, head teacher at Westfield Primary School, said: "Katie was a kind and thoughtful child who was well-liked by both pupils and staff. She was hardworking and showed a particular talent for creative writing.

“Her death is a terrible loss which has deeply saddened our school community and we send our profound sympathies to her family.

“All members of our school are being offered emotional support at this distressing time.”

Other people arrived to pay flowers and express their shock.

Nikki O'Donnell, of Nevis Way, off Alness Drive, arrived with her three-year-old daughter Amelia to put flowers at the scene.

She said: "It's such a shame because they have both just started their lives.

"You think about it happening to your own and if this was my own daughter I'd want to join them.

"I read about what happened but when you come down here it hits you harder, especially seeing the white tent. 

"You realise it's a little girl that's lost her life and it makes me feel sick.

"The most crime we've had around here is someone stealing windscreen wipers."

Officers remained at the property throughout Monday night and crime scene investigators arrived at about 10am on Tuesday.

York Press:

DCI Dave Ellis, above, of York Police held a media briefing on Tuesday morning. He read out Monday's statement and said the girl's family was being supported by specially-trained officers.

York Press:

Rob McCartney, 50, below, who lives nearby, said the road was sealed off by police when the ambulance service arrived last night.

York Press:

He said: "It's awful. I have a six-year-old daughter of my own and this kind of thing is horrible." 

He told the Press Association:  "(The mother) was back and forth, obviously very, very distraught and who I think was the father turned up.

"I spoke to her later, asked if she was okay and she said 'No, no, she's my little girl'.

"They were obviously very distraught. Didn't want to talk to people, the two of them took themselves off, were consoling each other. I didn't recognise them."

A group of two adults and a boy and girl arrived at the police cordon, each carrying a bouquet of flowers.

About a mile away two police vans were parked outside a house believed to belong to the seven-year-old girl's family.

A neighbour described Katie as "lovely, really sweet".

She said she had lived next door for around six months and said they were a "lovely family".

She said: "She was usually playing at the front in the garden or round the back of the house playing with some friends.

York Press:

"She was lovely, really sweet, smiling, laughing, playing with her friends.

"She was really friendly, running around."

She said the family were "really quiet" and "great neighbours".

Ashley Mason, a councillor for Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Ward, said the incident was "shocking and tragic news".

He said: "We send our condolences to the family, it’s going to be devastating to deal with. All we can ask is that through this time the police are allowed to investigate the matter thoroughly and quickly and the family are allowed to grieve in peace.

"I have been liaising with The Church of St James the Deacon. They are happy to open it up. Once we know which school is affected, if it’s in our ward, we would want to give it the support it needs. The key focus is that we provide support to the local children as well as local adults."

Bill Nankivell, churchwarden at The Church of St James the Deacon, said: "We were shocked by the news.

"We will try and open the church as much as we can to support the local community through this tragic time.

"We know it is going to have an effect on the community and we want to offer as much help as we can."

Andy Daniel, 35, is a taxi driver who lives close to Alness Drive and visited the scene to lay a floral tribute.

He said: "It's the last thing I would expect, I'm in shock. 

"It's the sheer shock of what's happened that made me want to come out and put flowers down. It's a tight community down here, you see kids playing out in the fields all the time, and I just didn't expect this."

In Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke of their sadness at Katie's death.

Mr Corbyn said: "I'm sure the whole House will join in heartfelt condolences to the family and friends following the tragic death of seven-year-old Katie Rough in York earlier this week. I think it's right we send condolences to her family."

Mrs May added: "I also join you in expressing condolences to the family and friends of little Katie, who died so tragically."

Jon Stonehouse, director of children, education and communities at City of York Council, said: “This tragic incident has shocked the city and the council on whose behalf I offer our profound condolences to Katie’s family at this extremely difficult and sad time.

“Her death has hit all who knew her very hard and we are providing specialist support to the school, as well as offering support to the school and the wider community.

“Our neighbour enforcement officers are also giving additional support to the police and are offering reassurance locally in this, one of the UK’s safer cities.”

York Press:

If you have any information that could assist the investigation please dial 101, select option 1, speak to the Force Control Room and ask to be put through to the Cleveland & North Yorkshire Major Investigation Team. 

Please quote reference 12170004685 when passing on any information.