Police are still at a loss to explain what happened to a 14-year-old girl from the former island of Marken, north of Amsterdam, whose body was found on a roadside on the mainland in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The girl, named by police as Tamar, left her home on the former island at 1am and her body was found at around 4am, after she had been reported missing by her parents.

Police assume she was the victim of a hit and run accident but are also looking into other possible scenarios after failing to find evidence that she was hit by a car.

‘If there was a collision, and the driver drove off, you would have expected to find traces of the vehicle – paint or glass or plastic from the bumper at the location of the accident,’ police spokesman Menno Hartenberg told broadcaster NOS. ‘But so far, nothing has been found. What we are now doing is combing the roadside verge to see if we can find any fragments.’

‘We found her body here, but that is all,’ he said. ‘She may have been walking on the road or the bike path. We have more questions than answers’.

Police are also examining four cars with recent damage, three from Marken and one from nearby Uitdam. In addition, they are using security camera footage in an effort to establish the girl’s exact movements. Marken is connected to the mainland by a causeway.

The cause of death has not yet been confirmed and the girl’s body will undergo a post mortem examination this week.

It is also unclear from the media reports why the girl was out alone and on foot so late at night. Locals from the close-knit community have described her as a quiet girl, and held at a minute’s silence for her during Sunday’s island church services.