TEN weeks after the disappearance of schoolgirl Jenna Baldwin, the search for her led police to a lonely spot in the Gwent countryside.

There, last night, officers uncovered what they had been looking for over the past few weeks - and what they had dreaded finding: a body.

Acting on an undisclosed tip-off, specialist search officers started scouring a small area known as Three Springs, about a mile from Keeper's Pond, Blaenavon, at 4pm.

After six hours of painstakingly slow and detailed searching through dense undergrowth, specialist police teams unearthed human remains on the B4246 Blaenavon to Abergavenny road just before midnight last night.

The decomposed human remains were discovered in a shallow grave beneath some stones on the site of the derelict Puddler's Arms pub.

Chief Inspector John Oliver, heading the investigation into 15-year-old Jenna's disappearance, said: "Even though we have found a body we cannot be conclusive because we still have to identify the remains. At the moment we cannot say for certain that it is Jenna's body, but we will be doing all we can to ascertain that over the next 24 hours."

Police liaison officers were comforting Jenna's mother, Desiree Baldwin, and her family at her Abersychan home.

Jenna's stepfather, Michael Baldwin, 36, of Lime Kiln Road, Pontnewynydd, has been charged with her murder.

Chief Inspector Oliver said it was a very difficult time for all involved: "This may be a very sad end to what was originally a missing person's report. Our thoughts and feelings must go to Jenna's family and close friends."

More than 20 officers wor ked through the night on the isolated mountainside overlooking the small town of Govilon.

Specialist forensic archaeologist Barrie Simpson, of the Forensic Search Advisory Group, was drafted in from the West Midlands to lead the search through woodland just off the side of the road.

Showing little emotion after weeks of fruitless searching, the police teams began their difficult task at 4pm yesterday afternoon.

Chief Inspector Oliver said that police had been informed about the site earlier in the day, but would not identify who had given them the information.

However, he did reveal that the tip-off was not given anonymously, saying: "The individual who gave us the lead has given us good reason to search a specific area."

After preliminary investigation of the woodland, scenes-of- crime officers sealed off the area and closed the road.

Dressed in white overalls and wearing facial masks, 14 officers cut through the undergrowth in silence beneath a full moon.

Only the gathering throng of reporters and the constant buzz of the generator powering the floodlights broke the bitterly cold night's stillness.

The painstakingly slow and detailed search was further hampered by the wet, marshy ground, where three small streams converge. Fire units had to be called to the area to assist with the drainage.

Walking through the bright lights of the television cameras and photographers' flashes, one weary-looking officer remarked: "It's not real. It's like a movie, isn't it?"

Chief Inspector Oliver said: "They have to work very slowly, and very carefully," he said. "Unfortunately there are going to be no quick results."

As the temperature on the remote hillside dropped, the police officers continued their search, warmed by soup and coffee provided by the nearby Cordell Country Inn.

By 10pm they were focusing their efforts on removing a number of stones where the Puddler's Arms public house once stood, believed by police to be "protecting something beneath them".

Just after midnight Chief Inspector Oliver approached reporters to break the news. "A few moments ago, we discovered remains at the site. A Home Office pathologist is on his way to confirm whether they are human," he said.

As the news finally broke, an eerie silence descended.

The friendly rapport and hopeful chatter which had punctuated the cold night was at once replaced with sombre faces in deep contemplation.

At 12.30am Home Office pathologist Rick James, from Cardiff, confirmed that the remains were human. Over the next 12 to 24 hours forensic specialists will go through the process of identifying the body.

A post-mortem examination was due to be carried out today.

The remains were expected to be identified through dental records.

CI Oliver said: "We just hope that we have found her and that the wondering the family have been going through can stop."