Ordeal drags on for Emily's family

Police have made two arrests since Emily Longley was found dead in England last month. Photo / Supplied

The body of aspiring 17-year-old model Emily Longley remains with the coroner in Britain more than a month after her death, as police continue to wait for toxicology reports and her family waits for closure.

The former Takapuna Grammar and Westlake Girls High student was found dead on the morning of May 7 in her boyfriend's home in south England, reportedly after a night out.

In the days before her death, Emily had received unnerving calls from a stalker, though police have focused on drugs as the possible cause of death.

They continue to appeal for sightings during her last night and have arrested two people, one of them Emily's boyfriend.

Dorset police spokeswoman Grace Lovelass said yesterday that officers were still waiting for toxicology results, and the coroner had yet to release Emily's body.

Emily's family are refraining from making public statements until investigations are complete.

Her case has attracted thousands of messages of support online, many from friends made during her years in Auckland.

Former Westlake rowing captain Shanice Duggan-Keefe, 18, who rowed with Emily at the school, told the Herald last month that Emily had been popular and life-loving.

"She was one of those people whom I had never seen get down," Ms Duggan-Keefe said.

"She was honestly like the sun - always so bright and bubbly."

In previous statements, Emily's family have remembered her as filling rooms with laughter and happiness.

Emily's mother, Caroline Longley, found out about her daughter's death in a phone call from British police at 2am on Mother's Day.

"It was the worst news you could ever hear on Mother's Day," she told the Herald last month. "It's ruined it forever ... Your child shouldn't die before you."

Mrs Longley got on the next flight to England with her younger daughter Hannah, 15.

"This is an absolutely devastating time ... But we're just praying that it was a natural death, that she died peacefully in her sleep."

Emily's father, Mark Longley, said the family were incredibly upset.

"It's a tragic loss of such a beautiful, life-loving girl ... We're absolutely distraught and we just want to be with her."

Emily had left Auckland for the United Kingdom last year to continue her studies at Brockenhurst College, about an hour out of Bournemouth, where she lived with her grandparents.