Police determining if body is missing girl

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ARVADA, Colo., Oct. 11 (UPI) -- The process of determining whether a body found in Arvada, Colo., is that of Jessica Ridgeway was delayed because the body was not intact, police said Thursday.

The body of a young girl was found in a park Wednesday afternoon -- five days after 10-year-old Jessica disappeared on her way to school in Westminster, Colo.

Westminster police said it would take at least until Friday to identify the body, The Denver Post reported.

Investigators have not officially linked the crime scene to the missing girl, but sources told ABC News Thursday investigators have reason to think it is Jessica's body.

Three sources stressed to ABC News a positive identification would take time.

"The Arvada Police Department and Westminster Police Department are working jointly with additional resources to process that crime scene," police spokesman Trevor Materasso told reporters Wednesday. "At this time, we're unable to make any connection to the disappearance of Jessica Ridgeway."

Police worked overnight and the body was removed after dark. The body was found near where Ridgeway's backpack was discovered Sunday, about 7 miles from her home.

Police were alerted to the discovery of the body several hours after they said they cleared the girl's parents in her disappearance.

"At this point in the investigation, after thoroughly looking at the parents, we're confident that they're not involved in the disappearance of Jessica Ridgeway," Materasso told reporters. "The focus shifts to an unknown suspect, as we think that she was abducted."

Police posted a guard at the home where Jessica was seen heading for school Friday, and Materasso said police will canvass Westminster neighborhoods in the area where she disappeared.

The FBI Thursday said investigators do not believe Jessica's disappearance is related to the case of an 11-year-old girl who was abducted and sexually assaulted Monday in Cody, Wyo., the Post reported. The girl was found several hours after her abduction, roaming on a rural road.