Alesha MacPhail, 6, was murdered, police say

Alesha MacPhail went missing from a flat in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute on Monday morning sparking a frantic search. Police this evening confirmed she had been murdered. Photo / Supplied

Police on the island of Bute have launched a murder investigaton into the death of 6-year-old Alesha MacPhail.

A post-mortem examination lasting more than seven hours revealed the youngster had been killed either at her home or the grounds of a former hotel where she was found on Monday morning.

But Detective Superintendent Stuart Houston, who is leading the murder inquiry, refused to reveal the cause of death or if a murderer was on the loose, the Daily Mail reports.

The murder cop would only say a large-scale investigation was taking place on the Scottish island and that there were several lines of inquiry.

Asked if Alesha could have sleep-walked out of the home she shared with her grandparents, he simply replied that detectives were "exploring a number of lines of inquiry".

He said Alesha's family was "devastated" by her death.

Forensic teams were searching several sites, including Kyles of Bute Hydropathic Hotel where a member of the public found her body.

Police refused to say if Alesha had been killed at her seafront home or the wooded area where she was discovered.

Asked if holidaymakers and local residents should be concerned about a potential killer on the loose, Houston said they should take care and report anything suspicious.

His reassurance was echoed by Chief Superintendent Hazel Hendren, divisional commander for Argyll and Bute.

"People should look after each other and take care. If they have any concerns they should contact one of our officers. There is an increased police presence on the island."

She refused to be drawn on the extra numbers of police drafted on to the island as part of the investigation.

Earlier, Alesha's father, Rab MacPhail, had to be supported by his girlfriend Toni McLachlan, 22, today as he paid an emotional visit to view the tributes left to his daughter outside the seafront home from where she went missing.

He was visibly overcome with emotion from reading the heartfelt messages left by shocked locals.

The 25-year-old crouched in front of bouquets of flowers, cuddly toys, balloons and handwritten notes placed by a wall at the home of his parents Calum MacPhail and Angela King, where neighbours say he and his girlfriend live.

The child had been staying with her grandparents when she was reported missing from their top-floor flat.

King appealed for help from the tight-knit community as neighbours and friends began looking for the girl.

Her body was found about 800m from the grandparents' home at 9am on the former hotel site. An hour after the news broke, Alesha MacPhail's mother Georgina Lochrane, 23, commented on King's post - asking what had happened to her daughter.

"Someone tell me what's happened. That's my daughter."

Another Facebook user posted a link to a story by the Daily Record, which said police were hunting for the girl, and that a body had been found.

An hour later, Georgina, known as Genie posted again: "Angela answer me now". She later added: "That is my f****** daughter".

Rab MacPhail was seen "white as a sheet" calling his daughter's name before she was found, locals said.

Shocked friends on Facebook were outraged the mother did not have any answers.

Kelly Maddocks wrote: "Absolutely disgusted that this poor baby's mummy has had to read her baby is missing and then to find she has passed away!!!! Heartbroken for you Genie Lochrane.

"I don't know you or your family but you should never have read anything about your wee girl, without hearing it firsthand... Especially before Facebook!!! God bless."

Members of Angela's family claimed the grandparents had tried to contact with Alesha's mother as police cordoned off the old hotel in the woodlands.

Lochrane, who is based in Coatbridge, has since been escorted to the island by police, the Daily Record reports.

It is believed that Alesha lives in Lanarkshire and was spending part of the summer holidays on the island.

Hundreds of tourists visit the island every day in the summer.

Police were reportedly stopping people as they got off the ferry from the island, asking for information.

The hotel where she was found was demolished in the 1970s, and is only about 20 minutes' walk from King and MacPhail's home.

The house where Alesha was staying has now been cordoned off and a police van was seen parked outside.

The tragedy has stunned the tiny community of about 7500 people, who say the island suffers "hardly any crime".

Messages on the floral tributes laid outside the home on Ardbeg Rd read "sleep tight little angel" and "forever in our thoughts".

A local, who knows Alesha's grandmother and arrived with her family to lay flowers at the scene, added: "The whole of the Island of Bute is in complete shock.

"Alesha's father Robert is just a brilliant guy and worshipped the ground she walked on. They were happy together. This doesn't happen here.

A Facebook appeal was put out in the early hours of the morning after the child went missing. Photo / Facebook

"We are a close-knit community and it takes five minutes for news to spread here. The whole community will stand together, I know that. That is what the island is like."

June McKenzie, who lives nearby, said: "We were woken at 7am and we were told she was missing, could we look for her.

"I looked in the garage and workshop and we saw that the search and rescue helicopter was out.

"I can't believe it. Her poor parents and gran. It's just appalling - somebody that young.

'The island's just down and will be for some time. Everybody just sticks together."