Ref. 21912-31TRIBUTES to Amanda Edwards are still flooding in, as her friends and family struggle to come to terms with her death.

The 21-year-old nursery care assistant, from Purton, adored children and is sorely missed by the staff, parents and children of Little Foxes Childcare and Education, the nursery where she worked.

Sandra Willy, the principal of the nursery in Brinkworth, said: "She enjoyed her work immensely and was dedicated to the care and development of babies, which was her passion."

She described Amanda as a vibrant young woman who developed close friendships among colleagues and good professional relationships with the parents of babies in her care.

She said: "One of the parents said Amanda was 'such a good person on the inside and out.'

"Whilst this is a difficult time for us, our sympathies and prayers are with Amanda's family."

Amanda went to Bradon Forest School, in Purton, before she left to train as a nursery worker.

Fellow pupil Lee Edmeades, 18, from Grange Park, remembers her happy nature.

He said: "Amanda was a very nice girl who always had a smile on her face. She was lovely. This is so awful and upsetting for everyone."

Amanda's body was discovered in a makeshift grave at The Knoll building site in Malmesbury last Friday, after she had been missing for eight days.

Hours earlier, convicted rapist Ian Cortis, 48, was found dead at an address in Calne.

Detectives had arrested him earlier that week on suspicion of kidnapping Amanda but had been forced to release him the previous day because they could no longer legally hold him without charging him with an offence.

A post mortem examination confirmed the self-employed plasterer and father-of-two, of Lineacre Close, Grange Park, had hanged himself.

The exact cause of Amanda's death has yet to be discovered but police say there was no obvious natural cause.

Over the weekend Amanda's parents, Beverley and Hartley, formally identified their daughter's body and visited the site where her body was found.

Besides running his own plastering business, Mr Cortis, a former bodybuilder, had worked as a doorman at various nightclubs in Swindon and across the county.

Phil Purnell, the landlord of The Angel pub, in High Street, Wootton Bassett, used to work with him at the former Eros nightclub, in West Swindon.

He said: "He was a quiet, private man. But I'd never seen him get aggressive and he didn't pay much attention to the women at work."

As part of their investigations, police searched garages near the pub which Mr Cortis used to store his plastering equipment.

Mr Purnell said: "Because he was secretive I thought there was something about him but couldn't put my finger on it.

"His wife, Vilette, was a lot younger than him. She looked similar to Amanda. I wouldn't have thought he was capable of murder. But you just never know."

Inquests into the deaths of Amanda Edwards and Ian Cortis are due to be opened this morning in Trowbridge.

Victoria Tagg