The body of jobcentre worker Joanne Nelson was released to her family for burial today after a coroner opened and adjourned the inquest into her death.

The 22-year-old's body was discovered in woodland near Malton, North Yorkshire, last Thursday after she was reported missing from her home in Hull on Valentine's Day.

Today, East Riding of Yorkshire coroner Geoffrey Saul formally opened and adjourned the inquest during a brief hearing at Hull Coroner's Court.

Mr Saul was told that Miss Nelson's body was formally identified by her uncle Alan Bird last Friday at the city's mortuary.

Detective Inspector Tony Garton confirmed that Miss Nelson's 30-year-old boyfriend Paul Dyson had been charged with her murder and that a file was being prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service.

The coroner said he would adjourn the inquest until the conclusion of criminal proceedings and released the body to Miss Nelson's family.

Humberside Police mounted an unprecedented search for Miss Nelson after she was reported missing from her home in Hotham Road North. Volunteers, specialist search teams, and even the Army joined the hunt to find her body, as police scoured hundreds of miles of rural countryside in East and North Yorkshire for nearly six weeks.

Her body was finally discovered by detectives near the village of Brandsby last week.

A post-mortem examination showed the cause of death to be manual strangulation.