UK police: Murder suspected on queen's estate

[January 03, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- Investigators are treating the discovery of a woman's body on the queen's Sandringham estate as a murder, and checking cases elsewhere in the country for possible connections, British police said Tuesday.

A member of the public found the body on New Year's Day in a woodland at Anmer, a tiny village 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of London. The village is part of the Sandringham estate where the royal family spends some of its holidays.

"We are at the very early stages of the investigation and it could be a complex inquiry. The body had been there for some time," Detective Chief Inspector Jes Fry said.

Anmer is home to several dozen people and sits around three miles (4.8 kilometers) from Sandringham House, which has served as a private residence for British monarchs since 1862. Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip spent part of the holiday season there and were at Sandringham House on New Year's Day.

[Associated Press]

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