GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Gainesville Police Department is investigating the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old in Gainesville’s Lincoln Estates neighborhood Saturday evening.
Officers were sent to the 1600 block of SE 14th Avenue at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, October 3, after several residents reported hearing gunfire.
Police found the 21-year-old suffering from apparent gunshot wounds when they arrived. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Detective Williams at 352-393-7681 or WilliamsWN@cityofgainesville.org.
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Tipsters may remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers of North Central Florida Inc. at 352-372-STOP (7867), using the Crime Stoppers P3 Tips app or submitting information online at https://www.stopcrime.tv/. Crime Stoppers offers rewards of up to $1,000 when information leads to an arrest. Callers do not have to provide their names, and eligible tips may qualify for payment if an arrest is made.
The 5 Best Survival Movies of the 21st Century, Ranked
Static Media
Few things are more compelling than watching movie stars pushed to the brink, portraying characters fighting for their lives while we watch safely from behind a bowl of popcorn. Survival movies remain one of cinema’s most enduring genres because they tap into a deep fascination with resilience and adversity. From astonishing true stories and dystopian thrillers to horror and science fiction, these films place us alongside unlikely heroes confronting seemingly impossible odds.
The survival movie is a wide-ranging category, encompassing everything from uplifting dramas to brutally violent slashers. The five acclaimed films chosen for this list each approach the genre differently, spanning contrasting styles, budgets and subgenres. What unites them is their ability to deliver the emotional intensity, nerve-shredding suspense and hard-won triumph expected from stories about surviving extraordinary circumstances.
If you’re looking for even more recommendations, we’ve also ranked the 15 best survival movies of all time. There is some overlap, but that selection leans more heavily toward large-scale disaster blockbusters. This list goes somewhere harsher, placing you directly in the path of more intimate and punishing battles for survival. Brace yourself.
5. The Revenant
20th Century Studios
It may seem odd to describe an Oscar-winning film that earned more than half a billion dollars worldwide as overlooked, but “The Revenant” was largely eclipsed by its awards campaign when it arrived in cinemas. The season’s main storyline was Leonardo DiCaprio’s long-awaited Best Actor victory, while discussion of the film itself often focused on his punishing, method-style preparation and the starkly beautiful cinematography, which looked like it had been lifted from an apocalyptic issue of National Geographic. As a result, the film has developed a strange cultural afterlife in which it is often dismissed as mere Oscar bait. That reading misses how genuinely thrilling it is. If every awards contender delivered this much visceral excitement, complaints about Oscar bait would quickly disappear.
Adapted from Michael Punke’s 2002 novel about an extraordinary true story, the film stars DiCaprio as frontiersman Hugh Glass. After being mauled by a grizzly bear, Glass is abandoned by the trapping party and left to die. The attack is the film’s most famous sequence, but it serves primarily as the catalyst for what follows: while his companions, led by Tom Hardy’s John S. Fitzgerald, move on, Glass slowly fights his way back from the edge of death, driven by revenge.
Beyond its brutal action and gruelling journey, “The Revenant” also deserves credit for the way director and co-writer Alejandro G. Iñárritu confronts the Western genre’s historically damaging treatment of Native American cultures. The film does not shy away from depicting the senseless genocide inflicted on those communities. There is far more here than an award-winning central performance: its bleak, uncompromising portrait of frontier life provides a powerful setting for a traumatic story of survival and retribution.
4. The Road
Dimension Films
Following the success of “No Country for Old Men,” Hollywood turned to another Cormac McCarthy adaptation, bringing his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Road” to the screen. John Hillcoat’s film received mostly positive reviews, although even some of its strongest admirers argued that McCarthy’s book was more emotionally devastating.
Set that comparison aside, and the movie stands as a faithful adaptation that captures the despair, tenderness and brief flashes of hope woven through McCarthy’s writing. Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee play an unnamed father and son crossing a post-apocalyptic America. Their journey through the ruined landscape brings them into conflict with cannibals, thieves and murderers as they search for a safe haven in a world that appears beyond saving.
For some viewers, “The Road” is almost unbearably bleak. Its drab, devastated society—often regarded as one of cinema’s more realistic visions of life after an apocalypse—has been left behind by an unexplained extinction event that destroyed nearly all plant and animal life. Yet the film is deeply concerned with humanity. It asks whether morality can endure when civilisation has collapsed, contrasting the father’s desperate choices with a young son increasingly aware of the horrors committed in the name of survival. Charlize Theron appears in flashbacks as the boy’s absent mother, a role expanded from the novel. Through that addition, Hillcoat broadens the story’s exploration of how different people might respond to the end of the world, revealing a quietly emotional core beneath its exhausted, unforgiving surface.
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3. Battle Royale
Toei
Years before “The Hunger Games” turned teenagers fighting to the death into a global box-office phenomenon, a darker and far more violent Japanese action film put a similar idea at the heart of one of the 2000s’ defining cult movies. Adapted from Koushun Takami’s 1999 novel, “Battle Royale” takes place in a totalitarian Japan where one randomly selected school class is forced to fight to the death each year in an attempt to control student delinquency. One morning, a bus full of junior high school students awakens to discover that their class has been chosen.
The students are transported to a remote island, handed individual weapons and fitted with explosive collars that will kill them if they refuse to participate. Adding to the film’s unsettling, almost grotesque gameshow atmosphere is the presence of Takeshi Kitano, who oversees the event. International audiences may know Kitano for his violent Yakuza films, but in Japan he was also strongly associated with the less deadly—though still punishing—television game show “Takeshi’s Castle.”
“Battle Royale” sparked immediate controversy in Japan. Director Kinji Fukasaku was so angered by the restrictive rating, the country’s equivalent of an NC-17, that he told teenage viewers they had his permission to sneak into screenings. Although the film became a major cult hit abroad, it was not released in the United States until the 2010s. Toei feared potential legal complications in a country where copycat school shootings were becoming an increasing concern following Columbine. Those controversies should not obscure the film’s strengths as a sharply constructed survival thriller. Beneath its pulpy violence is a serious examination of youthful alienation and the divide between generations, giving the film far more substance than two hours of indiscriminate carnage.
2. Gravity
Warner Bros
When audiences seemed ready to move on from 3D cinema, director Alfonso Cuarón gave them a compelling reason to put the glasses back on. “Gravity” is a remarkable technical achievement, yet its greatest triumph is how effortlessly it hides the enormous work behind its images. The film’s 13-minute opening sequence alone took more than a year to complete because of the extensive visual effects required. On screen, however, the result feels completely fluid.
The opening tracking shot glides toward Sandra Bullock’s Dr Ryan Stone as she works outside the spacecraft, with breathtaking views of Earth that could almost be mistaken for NASA footage. Then a cloud of high-speed debris strikes the crew, leaving Stone alone in orbit. A fire breaks out aboard the spacecraft and damages its systems, while the prospect of a safe return to Earth grows more remote by the minute.
Of the films on this list, “Gravity” follows the most recognisable disaster-movie structure: an isolated protagonist, a major star and an existential threat. Cuarón has said that overcoming adversity is the film’s central theme. It may offer less philosophical material than some of the other selections, but that is almost beside the point while the film is in motion. Across its compact 91-minute runtime, Cuarón never allows the tension to slacken, using every cinematic tool available to create an exhilarating survival thriller and a rollercoaster ride for the big screen.
1. The Descent
Lionsgate
Our choice for the best survival movie of the 21st century is certainly not for the faint of heart. The American release is a minute shorter than the international one simply because studio Lionsgate felt that audiences would respond negatively to the uber-bleak original finale. No matter which ending you choose, director Neil Marshall’s “The Descent” is one of the most horrifying survival films ever made, and certainly the boldest to have arrived onscreen so far this century.
Few protagonists have suffered quite as much as Sarah (Shauna MacDonald), whose husband and young daughter both die in a violent car crash soon after we’re introduced to her. A year later, her friends insist she join them in the Appalachian Mountains for a cave exploring adventure holiday. Upon arrival, the cave mouth collapses, leaving them with no choice to go further off route, further away from where they could get a rescue team to help — something they’ll soon need when pale, humanoid creatures start pursuing them from the darkness.
Moreso than even the most apocalyptic titles on this list, “The Descent” is one of the most exhilarating survival movies because its protagonist’s escape is never a given, even when she’s introduced with a tragic backstory we should be primed for her to overcome. This is as bleak a survival story as they come, but the existential dread is punctuated by some of the most effective scares of its decade, never giving the audience the space to breathe as it never strays from its claustrophobic setting. If you want a survival movie that can leave your nerves well and truly shot, this is what you’ve been looking for.
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s 17-Year-Old Child Fin Spotted in Stylish Los Angeles Look
Jennifer Garner’s child, Fin Affleck, displayed their distinctive edgy style while running errands with the actress this week.
Fin, 17, wore a graphic Bob Marley T-shirt with cut-off shorts, while their hair was styled in a ’90s-inspired curtain cut for the casual outing.
Garner, 54, embraced a natural look without makeup, pairing a blue shirt with leggings during the day out.
The 13 Going on 30 star shares Fin, daughter Violet, 20, and son Samuel, 14, with ex-husband Ben Affleck, 54. The former couple were married from 2005 until 2018.
Fin came out as non-binary and publicly introduced their new name at a memorial service for Garner’s father in April 2024, the Daily Mail reported.
Dressed in a black pantsuit and sporting a buzz cut, Fin introduced themselves by their new name before reading a Bible verse to the congregation at Christ Church United Methodist in Charleston, West Virginia.
Jennifer Garner’s child Fin Affleck showcased their edgy fashion sense while running errands with the actress this week
The 13 Going on 30 star shares Fin, daughter Violet, 20, and son Samuel, 14, with ex-husband Ben Affleck, 54, whom she married from 2005 to 2018; Affleck and Garner are pictured in West Hollywood in 2013
Fin had been photographed with their closely cropped hair as early as February 2024, but the memorial service marked the first public occasion on which the child of the two actors introduced themselves using their new name.
After his marriage to Garner ended, Good Will Hunting star Ben Affleck rekindled his romance with former fiancée Jennifer Lopez in 2021. The pair had initially split in 2004.
Affleck and Lopez married in Las Vegas on July 16, 2022, before holding a larger wedding ceremony at the actor’s Georgia property the following August. Family members and close friends attended the celebration.
Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck on the second anniversary of their Georgia wedding. Their divorce was finalized in early 2025.
Although their marriage ended, the former couple appear to have maintained an amicable relationship and continued working together on projects, including the 2025 film Kiss Of The Spider Woman.
They reunited on the red carpet at the film’s New York City premiere in October last year.
In a previous interview with Entertainment Tonight, the Gone Girl actor also spoke about Lopez’s relationship with his children following their divorce.
“For the record, Jennifer Lopez is spectacular. Great to my kids, great ongoing relationship with them,” Affleck said.
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Fin, 17, formerly known as Seraphina, wore a graphic Bob Marley T-shirt and cut-off shorts, styling their hair in ’90s-inspired curtains for the outing
The teenager was seen with their father, Ben Affleck, in New York City in March 2026
He added: “I love her kids. They’re wonderful. She’s an enormously important, tremendous person of a lot of integrity who I adore and am grateful to.”
The On The Floor singer is the mother of 18-year-old twins, whom she shares with her former husband Marc Anthony.
Affleck recently admitted that his children don’t want relationship advice from him following his failed marriages to Lopez and Garner.
The star made the comments while stopping by an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
‘I’ll say, “You know, well the thing about that relationship there…” and the 17-year-old turns to me and goes, “Oh, like you’re the expert on relationships?”‘ he said.
‘I give advice and try to talk to them, parent them as you do. What I found is that now it’s not only one teenager rolling their eyes.’
Affleck added: ‘I’ll kind of launch into something at the dinner table and I’ll catch them giving each other looks and I realize I’m the caricature in this story.’
The actor explained that he thought of himself as being a ‘cool dad.’
But with his children now growing up, they often offer their famous dad sarcastic one-liners.
Affleck and Garner had initially been slated to co-star in his new film Animals, with Kerry Washington later being cast to replace Garner.
The former couple would have portrayed a rocky marriage on the screen.
‘I talked to Jen, and she was like, “We don’t wanna do that. You just get baggage,”‘ he said of their conversation during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
However, Affleck shared how he does want the chance to collaborate with his ex-wife in the future.
‘I would love to work with her, frankly. She’s fabulous, and we’re really good friends, and I’m profoundly grateful to her, and we have a great thing.
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case Over Students’ “Let’s Go Brandon” T-Shirts
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal brought by two Michigan middle school students who were barred from wearing “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirts because of the slogan’s vulgar reference to President Joe Biden.
The justices left intact an October 2025 decision by the Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. That ruling concluded the school could reasonably ban the sweatshirts because the phrase constituted vulgar speech.
The Supreme Court did not explain its decision not to take up the case.
The phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” became widely popular in the fall of 2021 as a substitute for the chant “F— Joe Biden.” The slogan emerged after NBC reporter Kelli Stavast mistakenly interpreted the profane chant during an interview with NASCAR driver Brandon Brown following that October’s Xfinity Series Sparks 300.
“Here, the school administrators reasonably interpreted the ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ slogan as being vulgar speech that ‘a school may categorically prohibit’ despite its political message,” the Sixth Circuit said in a 2-1 ruling. “Requesting that students remove clothing with that slogan didn’t violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”
“In the schoolhouse, vulgarity trumps politics,” Judge John Nalbandian, an appointee of President Trump, wrote for the majority.
Judge John Bush, another Trump appointee, dissented. “If we allow schools the power to censor political speech by recharacterizing it as vulgarity, we risk turning disagreement with political speech into justification for its censorship — something the First Amendment flatly forbids,” he wrote.
The mother of the two middle school students sued the school district in 2023, arguing that the sweatshirt ban violated her sons’ First Amendment rights.
According to an attorney for Tri County Middle School in Howard City, located about 35 miles north of Grand Rapids, administrators prohibited the sweatshirts because their message violated the school’s dress code—not because of its political content.
An assistant principal and a teacher told the brothers to remove the sweatshirts after determining that the slogan was “equivalent to the f-word,” according to the lawsuit.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, filed the lawsuit on the mother’s behalf. The organization advocates for free speech and provides legal representation in such cases.
“Criticism of the president is core political speech protected by the First Amendment,” FIRE attorney Conor Fitzpatrick said in a statement at the time. “Whether it’s a Biden sticker, ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sweatshirt or gay pride T-shirt, schools can’t pick and choose which political beliefs students can express.”
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Casselberry Residents Can Get Free Smoke Alarm Installations
CASSELBERRY, Fla. – Smoke alarms remain one of the most important tools residents have during a house fire, according to Sharon Gregory, a public safety specialist with the Seminole County Fire Department.
Gregory emphasized that people may have less than two minutes to escape a burning home. A working alarm can provide the warning needed to recognize the danger and get outside safely.
To help local families prepare, the Seminole County Fire Department is teaming up with the American Red Cross for a Sound the Alarm event on Saturday, Oct. 10. The outreach will take place in a Casselberry neighborhood near Wilshire Drive and South Winter Park Drive, offering free smoke alarm installations and home fire safety information.
Firefighters and Red Cross volunteers started promoting the event Monday by gathering at the Casselberry Police Department and visiting nearby homes. Teams handed out door hangers containing information about the Oct. 10 safety initiative.
During the event, volunteers will check residents’ existing alarms, replace or install units when necessary, and discuss steps homeowners can take to reduce the risk of a house fire.
Organizers expect to visit nearly 250 homes, with fire prevention education serving as a central part of the effort.
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Residents will also receive information about lithium-ion battery safety. Gregory said fire officials have seen an increase in incidents involving the batteries, which are used in a growing range of everyday devices.
Gregory recommends testing smoke alarms every month. Traditional alarm batteries should be replaced annually, while newer models with sealed lithium-ion batteries generally require replacing the entire alarm after 10 years.
The Casselberry outreach is part of the American Red Cross Home Fire Campaign and its Sound the Alarm program, a nationwide initiative that works with fire departments and community groups to prevent home fire deaths and other tragedies.
Fire Prevention Week runs from Oct. 4 through Oct. 10. Additional information about Seminole County fire safety and community outreach programs is available by clicking here.
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
Mystery Death at Russian Plague Lab Sparks Sweeping US Alert
Rubio says US monitoring Russian plague scare
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is closely tracking reports that a worker at a Russian laboratory may have contracted plague as he travels this week through Iceland, Greece and Portugal.
Russian officials have quarantined a hospital and placed dozens of people under observation after a 28-year-old employee of a Siberian anti-plague institute died from pneumonia with no confirmed cause. The circumstances have raised unverified concerns that she may have had pneumonic plague.
Darya Shipilova was employed by the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East. Russian health authorities say extensive tests found no indication that her illness was caused by pathogens handled at the facility, though officials have not publicly disclosed the cause of death.
The sweeping precautions have intensified speculation in Russia and abroad. Reuters reported Oct. 5 that officials had identified all known contacts, placed them under medical supervision and found no additional cases among institute employees.
“We’re watching and monitoring it closely,” Rubio said Monday. He added that the situation was not, in his view, “cause for alarm,” but warranted attention and continued observation.
A view of the Medical Assistance and Rescue Centre, an infectious diseases’ hospital, in the town of Shelekhov in the Irkutsk region, Russia, October 5, 2026. (Reuters)
Rubio said reports from Russia indicated that a laboratory employee had become infected and that officials were concerned about possible transmission within the institute. Although travel between Russia and the United States is limited, he warned that an infectious disease can spread rapidly once it escapes an initial setting.
His remarks came after the State Department told Fox News on Oct. 4 that it was coordinating its monitoring efforts with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies. The department said key details had not been verified and called on Moscow to release reliable information without delay.
East2West news agency reported Monday that more than 60 workers were still confined inside the Irkutsk institute and that nearly 200 people who had been in contact with Shipilova were under observation. Those numbers have not been confirmed by Russian authorities. The agency also said Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan had strengthened health screening measures at their borders.
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The infectious-disease hospital in Shelekhov, near Irkutsk, where Shipilova received treatment, was quarantined and temporarily stopped admitting or releasing patients, according to The Associated Press. Irkutsk Gov. Igor Kobzev referred to the illness as a suspected “particularly dangerous infection.”
Darya Shipilova, 28, an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, died after developing pneumonia of an unknown cause, prompting quarantines and heightened health precautions in the region. Russian authorities say testing has found no evidence her illness was linked to pathogens she worked with. (East2West news)
The response escalated further when Anna Popova, head of Russia’s consumer and public health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, traveled to Irkutsk for an emergency meeting following Shipilova’s death, Reuters reported. A nearby aluminum plant also instructed its employees to wear masks as a precaution.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged people to follow official updates and avoid relying on “rumors or speculation.”
Rospotrebnadzor said Sunday that Shipilova had been diagnosed with “pneumonia of unknown etiology.” The agency said testing found “no microorganisms associated with the patient’s professional activities” and that investigators had uncovered no incident at the laboratory involving pathogenic organisms.
Pneumonic plague is a serious form of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It can pass between people through respiratory droplets during close contact, but prompt antibiotic treatment can be effective.
Workers in protective uniforms conduct testing in Russia amid heightened precautions following the death of an employee at a Siberian anti-plague research institute. (Khuvsguliinungu.mn/e2w)
Russian officials continue to say there is no evidence of a plague outbreak and that local health conditions remain stable. Still, the cause of Shipilova’s fatal pneumonia remains unknown, as does the reason authorities adopted such extensive containment measures despite reporting that no dangerous pathogen had been found.
Shavon Gayden Due in Court Monday in Fatal Stabbing of Eddimar Paola Hernandez in Chicago’s Chatham Neighborhood
CHICAGO (WLS) — The mother of Shavon Gayden, who is accused in the fatal stabbing of 7-year-old Eddimar Hernandez, says she is devastated by the child’s death and believes years of attempts to secure mental health care for her daughter went unanswered.
Speaking by phone and requesting that her name and photograph remain private, Gayden’s mother offered her condolences to Eddimar’s family.
“I am deeply sorry for that family. That little girl did not deserve this,” she said, adding that her daughter had not been mentally well.
Police said Gayden encountered Eddimar near 86th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue Saturday morning and stabbed the child several times in the back.
Investigators said surveillance footage shows Eddimar walking with her older sister before bystanders intervened. The witnesses restrained Gayden until police reached the scene.
Paramedics transported Eddimar to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she later died.
Gayden’s mother said she had seen her daughter’s mental health deteriorate for more than 10 years while repeatedly struggling to find meaningful assistance.
She said she felt abandoned by the system because Gayden was an adult and authorities told her there was little she could do to intervene.
Court records show Gayden has been involved in four earlier cases, including two that involved domestic battery allegations.
In 2023, she assaulted a CTA bus operator and received a two-year probation sentence.
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Her mother said she attended court proceedings in that case and raised concerns with Gayden’s public defender.
Another case, filed in 2024 and involving two people at a shelter, led to an alleged probation violation.
Court records indicate that a warrant was issued in February 2025 after Gayden failed to appear. Records do not make clear whether police ever carried out the warrant.
Gayden’s mother said she remains convinced that more intervention was possible before the fatal attack.
She apologized again to Eddimar’s loved ones, saying her daughter had struggled for years and that she had tried to get help but could not obtain the support their family needed.
On Sunday, relatives and neighbors gathered at a vigil for Eddimar. Family members remembered her as a joyful child who enjoyed drawing, playing with her siblings and watching from the window for her parents to return home.
Gayden has been charged with first-degree murder. Although a detention hearing was set for Monday, she remains hospitalized, and a full hearing will be held at a later time.
Mayor Brandon Johnson posted the following statement Sunday:
Johnson said he was heartbroken by the killing of a 7-year-old Chicago girl who was walking with her family. He offered condolences to Eddimar’s loved ones and the Chatham community, saying no child should fear for her life while walking through her neighborhood. Johnson said the city would continue working with the Chicago Police Department and support the family and community as the investigation continues.
Copyright © 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Police Investigate After 11-Year-Old Girl Found Dead in Park
Tributes have been paid to an 11-year-old girl whose body was discovered in a park in Worcestershire, in a death police are currently treating as unexplained.
The girl was named locally as Miya Deamer-Jones. She is believed to have lost her father to cancer three years ago.
Miya was reported missing at around 11.20pm yesterday before being found dead at a park near Elmley Castle Cricket Club, in Elmley Castle.
West Mercia Police said inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the child’s death remain ongoing.
The force confirmed that Miya’s family had been informed and was receiving support from specially trained officers.
Sunflowers were placed on a nearby bench in Miya’s memory as villagers described their shock and grief.
A source said Miya had been deeply affected by the loss of her father, adding: “I know she really missed him a lot. He died at the family home.”
A schoolfriend left flowers at the scene with a tribute to Miya, who was also known as Mia. It read: “You have no idea how much I miss you. You will always be a part of me and a part of my heart.”
Miya Deamer-Jones has been named locally as the 11-year-old girl found dead in a park. The image was shared by her family online in 2021.
“I love you so much and it will be hard to cope without you,” the tribute continued.
The source said: “I woke up to a stream of messages from Mia’s mum, sent late last night, saying she couldn’t find her.”
“Mia was a cheeky character. There aren’t words to describe this,” the source added.
Another woman who knew Miya said: “She was such a happy girl. This is tragic.”
A villager said the death represented “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
Miya, one of four sisters, lived with her mother and at least one sibling on a nearby street. Relatives were understood to have gathered at the family home today.
A neighbour said: “They are a really nice family. My heart goes out to them.”
Miya is understood to have been playing with a friend at home yesterday afternoon.
A police car was seen this morning at the Worcestershire park where the body was discovered.
The 11-year-old was found at the park near Elmley Castle Cricket Club.
The scene at Elmley Castle Cricket Club in the centre of the Worcestershire village today.
Sunflowers have been left in memory of the girl on a nearby bench
Chalk marks could be seen on the pavement outside, where there was also a trampoline in the family’s front garden.
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It is thought Miya then went to the cricket field, where villagers said children would often call in to the cricket club for a hot chocolate.
Police were called after Miya’s family searched the village for the schoolgirl when she failed to return home.
Miya was said to attend Bredon Hill Academy, a middle school in the nearby village of Ashton under Hill.
The school referred calls to Worcestershire County Council today, who could not immediately comment.
Local resident Laurence O’Shaughnessy, 50, said he heard sirens between 11.15 and 11.30pm but did not think ‘anything of it’ at the time. He later heard sirens again approaching midnight.
‘It was only when I woke up this morning that I found out what had happened,’ Mr O’Shaughnessy said.
‘It’s frightening. It’s all taped off by the cricket nets, which I think is where she was found. We don’t know who she is or whether she’s from the village.’
Police were called after Miya’s family searched the village for the schoolgirl when she failed to return home
Police put up cordons as they continued investigations at the Worcestershire park
West Mercia Police have said those living in Elmley Castle should expect to see an increased police presence in the area while officers carry out their enquiries
A woman who lives in the area and has a daughter the same age said it was a ‘real shock’.
‘It is such a close community, everybody knows everybody here,’ she said. ‘It is generally safe, so it’s just a real shock.
‘We all feel like (children) are fine here and safe. There’s always children playing here. You just wouldn’t expect it at all.
‘I just can’t believe it. I will be fine, I have a lot of support around me… we will all be there for each other, I’m sure.’
Another villager, who was not named, described the death as ‘tragic’. She said: ‘I only found out about this when my daughter-in-law heard it on the news and phoned me.
‘It’s a really quiet village and the last place you would expect something like this to happen. It’s tragic.’
West Mercia Police have said those living in Elmley Castle should expect to see an increased police presence in the area while officers carry out their enquiries.
Chief Inspector Daniel Pilkington, of West Mercia Police, said: ‘We know the death of a young girl will be deeply upsetting for the local community, and our thoughts remain with her family and friends at this time.
‘Her death is currently being treated as unexplained, and we are carrying out enquiries to fully understand the circumstances and provide her family with the answers they deserve.
‘We would also ask people not to speculate about the circumstances surrounding her death. This is an incredibly difficult time for her family, and I would urge everyone to be mindful of the impact that speculation could have on them.
‘People may notice an increased police presence in Elmley Castle while these enquiries continue. I want to reassure residents that this is part of our work to establish exactly what has happened, and officers will also be available to speak to anyone in the community who has concerns.’
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