Police confirm they have found missing remains of British student Hannah Graham

Human remains found in an abandoned house in Virginia last weekend are those of Hannah Graham, police have confirmed.

The announcement was made by the Albemarle County Police Department.

The remains were found last Saturday in a heavily wooded area about 10 miles south of Charlottesville.

Earlier today Hannah’s parents, John and Sue Graham, who moved to the United States when Hannah was five, visited the scene with police.

“When we first met Chief Tim Longo he promised to find our precious daughter, Hannah, and during five long weeks his resolve to fulfil that promise never wavered,” they said.

“When we started this journey together we all hoped for a happier ending.

“Sadly that was not to be, but due to the tenacity and determination of Chief Longo, Hannah is coming home to us and we will be eternally grateful to him for this.”

They thanked the authorities and the University of Virginia community for their support and help in finding their daughter.

"Although we have lost our precious Hannah, the light she radiated can never be extinguished," they said. "We will hold it in our hearts forever and it will help sustain us as we face a painful future without her."

Hannah, 18, was studying at the University of Virginia and had not been seen since she left for a party on shortly after midnight September 13.

At around 1.20 am she texted friends telling them that she was lost.

Then at 2 am Hannah was filmed on CCTV leaving a bar with Jesse Matthew, 32.

Matthew, who is believed to have been the last person to see her alive, has already been charged with her kidnapping.

He was named as a “person of interest” by police in Virginian after they searched his car and home.

Matthew had presented himself to police at Charlottesville and asked for a lawyer.

He then fled in his sister’s car and was finally arrested in Galveston, Texas and brought back to Virginia.

Matthew, a nursing assistant , has also been linked by DNA evidence with the 2009 disappearance of Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student.

Her body was discovered three months later only five miles where what was confirmed to be the Hannah’s remains.

The British student’s disappearance triggered a massive hunt and thousands of people called in with possible leads in the case.

They included Bobby Pugh, a landscaper, whose suspicions were aroused when he saw buzzards on the rooftop of the abandoned property.

It was not until three weeks later that volunteers made their grim discovery at the house off Old Lynchburg Road.

“I wish it could have happened faster, but it couldn’t,” said Pugh. “They were getting 200-300 tips a day, my tip couldn’t be the one on the top.”

In a statement, the Albemarle Police Department urged that the privacy of Hannah’s parents be respected.

"We remain committed to this investigation and will work to ensure that justice is served.”