Girl, 9, who went missing from school 15 years ago is discovered in forest just nine miles from her home

THE body of a young German girl who went missing 15 years ago has been found by mushroom pickers, just nine miles from where the little girl grew up.

Peggy Knobloch was nine years old when she went missing on May 7 2001, never making it home from her German primary school, with her disappearance sparking an international missing person's search.

Despite an intense search, the young girl was never found with parallels drawn between the young Bavarian girl and missing English girl Madeleine McCann.

German authorities were initially cautious to confirm that the body parts found over the weekend - just nine miles from her home between Nordhalben and Rodacherbrunn - were those of little Peggy.

But according to Abendzeitung news, a Gera prosecutor announced on Tuesday afternoon that the remains were definitely those of Peggy.

The body was also found with personal items that matched those of Peggy.

The young girl's body and other items were found by a member of the public who was walking through the forest looking for mushrooms.

After making the devastating discovery, they immediately notified police on Saturday.

More than 100 police officers then descended onto the scene to search for more clues.

It is understood the bones most likely surfaced after wild animals picked up the scent of the body and excavated it.

Further tests, including a radiological examination, are expected to shed further light around how the little girl died.

In 2002, a man with a learning disability was accused of killing the nine-year-old girl after allegedly sexually assaulting her. He told police he had sexually abused her then killed her when she went to tell on him.

The man was jailed for life in 2004, spending his time in an psychiatric hospital before he withdrew his confession.

He was released 10 years later when the conviction was overturned.

No one has since been charged with her disappearance.

The search for the young girl spread across her village, with authorities even using military planes in the extensive hunt for clues.

A line of inquiry took authorities to the Czech Republic and to Turkey in the belief she may have been kidnapped.

Her case sparked comparisons with Madeleine McCann who was just three when she went missing from a resort in Portugal in 2007 with reports of sightings of the toddler following from around the world.

The two girls look startingly similar with their blonde hair and wide eyes.

The young girl has never been found.