Teen model Sally Anne Bowman was sexually assaulted before she was murdered, police have confirmed.

Her half-naked body was found yards from her home in Croydon, south London, on Sunday morning.

The 18-year-old's Prada handbag, Samsung D500 mobile phone and passport are missing, Scotland Yard said.

Three men arrested in connection with her death have been released without charge, including her ex-boyfriend. A fourth man, 26, has been released on police bail.

On the Saturday night before she was killed, Miss Bowman had been out in Croydon town centre.

From 10pm to 1am she was in Lloyds Bar, before visiting a friend. At 2am she took a cab back to Katherine Street the town centre.

Four and a half hours later a passer-by discovered her body a mile south, outside her home in Blenheim Crescent. She had bled to death form multiple stab wounds.

Underneath a tree on the sidewalk mourners left bunches of flowers.

"We're thinking of you everyday, just like we should," wrote a fellow student at the Brit School of performing arts in Croydon, where she studied.

"No one thought things would end the way they would We may have lost a friend or a daughter. But we know we've gained an angel."

Miss Bowman, who worked part time as a hairdresser and a model, was wearing white high heels, a denim mini skirt and a white bodice with butterflies.

Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Cundy described her handbag as a "white leather half moon shape" with a silver chain, a leather shoulder strap and a blue silk lining. A silver Prada badge, which had fallen off, was inside the bag.

"It may be that the person who killed Sally Anne discarded them whilst leaving the scene," DCI Cundy said.

"Maybe they have been sold on to you? Or maybe you found them and kept them?"

Her stepfather and two stepsisters visited the scene on Monday. They "love and miss her so much", they said in a statement.

"If anyone has the slightest information about Sally Anne's death, even if they don't think it is important, please come forward," they pleaded.

Police urged anyone who saw Miss Bowman on the night of the murder to call 0208 721 4005.