Missing teacher Jane Longhurst has not been seen since 14 March

They believe Jane Longhurst was such a devoted daughter she would have phoned her mother Liz if she had been able to.

Sussex Police have now turned their missing person's inquiry into a major crime investigation.

The 31-year-old, who lives with her partner in Brighton, was last seen on 14 March.

We believe that she has been abducted and probably killed - as such this is now a major crime inquiry DCI Steve Dennis

Since then, Miss Longhurst's mobile phone has been switched off and there have been no transactions on her bank accounts or credit cards.

Originally from Reading, she lives in Shaftesbury Road in Brighton with her partner Malcolm Sentance and works at Uplands School in the city teaching children with special needs.

She was last seen about 1400 GMT on 14 March when two former pupils bumped into her in Beaconsfield Road, Brighton.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Dennis, who is leading the inquiry, said at a media conference on Monday Miss Longhurst's failure to contact her mother on Sunday suggested bad news.

Burnt clothing found

He said: "The fact that Jane didn't call her mum on Mother's Day, coupled with all the other lines of inquiry we have followed up in the last two weeks, suggests Jane has not gone anywhere out of choice.

"We believe that she has been abducted and probably killed - as such this is now a major crime inquiry."

Detectives said they were looking into the discovery of burnt clothing in Brighton's Preston Park at the weekend.

Work is taking place to identify the clothes, which were found in black bin bags.

'No stone unturned'

Mr Dennis said: "We don't know at this stage whether the clothes have any relevance to this incident.

"However, we are leaving no stone unturned and work is being carried out to try and identify who they belonged to."

Officers are also trying to trace a woman and child aged about 12, who were walking near Miss Longhurst when she was last seen.

The dark-haired girl skipped around her as she walked towards the door of her flat.

Police said the girl was wearing cerise pink and white clothes and the woman, possibly the girl's mother, was about 5 ft 5 ins, with dark hair and was dressed in dark clothes.