The house belonging to the grandmother of missing schoolgirl Tia Sharp has been cordoned off by police searching for the 12-year-old, who have also been hunting through bins and garages on the New Addington estate where she lived.
Around 20 officers have sealed off 100 yards around the property at The Lindens, New Addington where Christine Sharp, 47, lived with her partner Stuart Hazell.
Hazell has been questioned by Croydon Police over the disappearance but was not arrested.
Christine Sharp leaves her house as police prepare a forensic search of the property
He had previously been in a relationship with Tia's mother, Natalie.
Christine Sharp said her daughter had gone missing since talking to police, and speculated she was not able to face what was might have happened, saying "she needed to get away".
Police will scour the house, which has already been searched twice, but forensic experts are now expected to conduct a detailed examination.
The schoolgirl had spent Thursday night alone with Hazell, who picked her up from the train station.
She was last seen by Hazell when she left her grandmother's house to buy flip-flops at the Whitgift shopping centre, has been missing for a week.
Sharp broke down speaking to reporters today, saying: "She's not staying away by choice, I know this."
Police officer search bins on the New Addington estate
Officers were said to be looking at 800 hours of CCTV, looking for Tia in surrounding streets and shops, and are searching the phone records of her friends and family. They do not believe she would have left the area.
Tia lived with her mother and her mother's partner David Sharp in Mitcham, south London.
Steve Carter, her biological father is living in Northampton.
Reports have suggested the police officers who worked on the Shannon Matthews case, whose mother Karen Matthews faked the abduction of her own daughter, had been drafted in to help, but Croydon police said that was not the case, and was a "damaging" accusation.
Family members and friends have lit candles around the area, put up hundreds of posters and wear t-shirts with the schoolgirl's face on the front, as part of their quest to find her safe and well.
Scotland Yard said it was a "pre-planned search" and postponed a media briefing with Area Commander Neil Basu.
Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola, the search was likely to "take one or two days".