Man, 29, arrested over ‘murder’ of woman, 23

A man has been charged with murder after a 23-year-old woman was found dead in a country lane following an online date.

Human resources adviser Megan Newborough was reported missing when she failed to return from the meeting on Friday evening.

Her frantic parents used tracking software to find her mobile phone discarded in a hedgerow on Saturday evening and police were called.

Megan Newborough, pictured, was found dead hours after she failed to return from a date on Friday evening 

However, Miss Newborough’s body was discovered in the early hours of Sunday six miles away in a rural lane outside the village of Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire

However, Miss Newborough’s body was discovered in the early hours of Sunday six miles away in a rural lane outside the village of Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire.

In a statement issued through police, Miss Newborough’s family said they were ‘completely heartbroken and devastated’ at her death, adding: ‘Megan was the most generous, loving and caring person and we have been robbed of our treasured daughter.’

Richard Rees, 37, who lives close to the spot where the phone was found on the outskirts of Whitwick, a large former mining village, said: ‘Her family arrived on Saturday evening and were trying to find the phone in the hedge.

‘They came over and showed me a picture of Megan on her father’s phone and he asked if I’d seen her. They were all obviously very concerned.

‘Mr Newborough said that Megan had met somebody online. Their date had been the night before but she hadn’t been heard from since and they had tracked the phone to the hedge.

‘He described the situation as “every dad’s worst nightmare”.’

Her frantic parents used tracking software to find her mobile phone discarded in a hedgerow on Saturday evening and police were called

Mr Rees said he gave the family a piece of wood to try to help them cut through the hedge and locate the phone, which could be heard ‘pinging’ every few minutes somewhere in the undergrowth.

Police then arrived and a section of the hedge beside a gate leading into farmland was cut out and the phone retrieved.

Mr Rees said that a young woman who had accompanied the family was seen with the handset in a polythene bag, before an officer was overheard later that evening telling colleagues that they were ‘now looking for a body’ as a helicopter hovered overhead.

A neighbour of Mr Rees’s also spoke to the Newboroughs on Saturday and described them as being ‘worried sick’, adding: ‘I think the poor mother was in shock.’

She added: ‘The word locally is that the poor girl had been on a date and didn’t return.’

Miss Newborough, the granddaughter of a vicar, grew up in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, around 25 miles away, and is still thought to have lived at the £800,000 family home with father Anthony, a 53-year-old account manager, and her mother Elaine, 50.

A family friend said Miss Newborough had recently finished a college or university course, adding: ‘Megan was a lovely young woman and they are a lovely family, very close-knit and very caring.

‘They are the kind of family who always go out of their way. Megan was absolutely beautiful – she would do anything for anyone.’ Tributes from workmates and friends online repeatedly described Miss Newborough as ‘beautiful’ and ‘bubbly’.

On Sunday, Leicestershire Police appealed for anybody who may have seen a white Citroen C3 on Friday night to come forward. Officers believe the car travelled between Coalville and Loughborough between 8pm and 10pm.

Prior to officially identifying Miss Newborough, the force said she had been reported missing from outside the county.

Ross Macullam, 29, of Coalville, was yesterday charged with Miss Newborough’s murder and will appear before Leicester magistrates this morning.

Police said Macallum had also been arrested on suspicion of rape, but remains under investigation regarding that matter.