Missing Catherine Shaw: Body found in Guatemala Published duration 11 March 2019

image copyright Lucie Blackman Trust image caption Catherine Shaw left her accommodation in Guatemala in the early hours of 5 March

A body has been found in the search for a 23-year-old British woman who went missing in Guatemala, the country's police force has said.

Catherine Shaw, from Witney, was reported missing after she left Hotel Mayachik near Lake Atitlan on 5 March.

Guatemalan police said search teams have located a body at San Juan La Laguna.

Formal identification has not taken place but Ms Shaw's family have been informed of the find.

In a statement The Lucie Blackman Trust, which has been helping Ms Shaw's family, said it was "saddened to announce that a body has been found in the search for Catherine Shaw".

It added: "Formal identification has not taken place but the body is believed to be Catherine."

The body was discovered shortly after a jacket believed to be Ms Shaw's was found nearby.

image copyright Lucie Blackman Trust image caption Search efforts were redeployed and intensified in San Juan La Laguna where a jacket was found

Ms Shaw set out travelling in September 2018.

She had been with a friend in Guatemala for two weeks having previously visited Mexico and California.

People searching for Ms Shaw said she left Hotel Mayachik twice; first at 01:37 local time, returned, then left again at 05:23 heading in the direction of Lake Atitlan.

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Over the weekend Guatemalan police, local people and Britons in the country searched along the Indian Nose hiking trail.

Drones were also used to search the wooded area.

A puppy which Ms Shaw took with her when she left the accommodation was found at the peak of the hiking trail on Friday morning.

A Facebook appeal page said: "The puppy was shivering and crying according to the man who found it."

Also on Friday it was revealed Ms Shaw's father was travelling to San Pedro to join the search with volunteers in the area.