By Benedict O'ConnorA POST-MORTEM examination was being carried out last night to establish the cause of death of a mother-of-two whose body was discovered on a disused airbase.

By Benedict O'Connor

A POST-MORTEM examination was being carried out last night to establish the cause of death of a mother-of-two whose body was discovered on a disused airbase.

Although formal identification has yet to take place, the body, discovered on Sunday near Langham in Norfolk, is believed to be that of Kim Fuller, 34, of Chapel Street, Exning, near Newmarket.

The woman's body was removed from Langham yesterday afternoon and taken to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, where Home Office pathologist Dr Michael Heath was due to perform a post-mortem examination.

Police also announced yesterday they had been granted another 36 hours to question Mrs Fuller's ex-boyfriend, auxiliary nurse Sean Hilton, on suspicion of murder.

The 38-year-old, of Brook Street, Soham, was being held at an unnamed police station in Cambridgeshire, having been arrested in St Ives in Cornwall on Saturday after his car number plate was recognised by a police automatic registration device.

Mrs Fuller, 34, a mother of two young girls from a previous relationship, disappeared on Thursday.

A police search was launched when the former Newmarket Upper School pupil failed to turn up for work at the Nationwide Building Society in Mildenhall on Friday.

An appeal was also put out to trace Mr Hilton, who was initially being sought in connection with the suspected abduction of Mrs Fuller.

But police confirmed that Mr Hilton, who works at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, was now being questioned in connection with her murder.

On Sunday morning, acting on intelligence, the huge search operation for Mrs Fuller was focussed on land near the old Langham airfield in Norfolk.

A team of 30 police officers - along with 27 members of the Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue Team, two trained rescue dogs and 10 members of the North Norfolk Civil Protection Service - scoured the area until a woman's body was found shortly after 3pm.

As a mark of respect for their employee and concern for fellow staff members, the Mildenhall branch of the building society where Mrs Fuller worked was closed yesterday.

A spokesman for the Nationwide said: “Obviously we are concerned for the staff at the Mildenhall branch. As a mark of that concern the branch was closed on Monday, but it is our intention to reopen on Tuesday.”

Mr Hilton's car, a silver Vauxhall Cavalier, was being transported back from Cornwall yesterday, for forensic examination by Cambridgeshire police.

A spokesman for Mr Hilton's employers at Papworth Hospital, said: “The hospital can confirm that Sean Hilton has been employed as a nursing auxiliary at the hospital since May 2002. We are co-operating fully with the police in this matter.”

Police said Mrs Fuller's family, including the two girls who live with their father, were being kept informed of developments in the case.

benedict.o'connor@eadt.co.uk