Scotland Yard confirmed they were launching a murder inquiry, after Metropolitan Police pulled a body from River Brent on Tuesday night.
Confirming in a statement that the family has been updated on the latest developments, police said:
'Formal identification awaits and a post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course.
‘We ask the media give Alice’s family and friends the privacy they require at this difficult time.’
The search for the 14-year-old schoolgirl, who went missing whilst walking along the Grand Union Canal in West London on August 28th, intensified after CCTV footage revealed convicted murderer Arnis Zalkalns cycling the same route behind the teenager.
Zalkalns has now emerged as the prime suspect in her disappearance, with police working alongside officials in his native Latvia to trace him.
The cases sparked a huge hunt, with more than 300 officers from over a dozen police forces across the country involved, and numerous celebrities raising awareness of her disappearance on social networks.
The girl’s mother, Rosalind Hodgkiss, said: ‘Every morning, as Alice’s disappearance grows longer and longer, brings new agony, new anguish.'