[Above: Ying Xin's (inset) family members leaving the mortuary in Johor Baru Tuesday.]

JOHOR BARU, Malaysia: A 16-year-old schoolgirl who was kidnapped last Friday was found murdered with her partially-burnt body dumped in some bushes.

Police found the semi-decomposed body of Lai Ying Xin at 1.40am yesterday in Taman Putri, Kulai.

It is learnt that she might have been kidnapped by people known to her and police were pursuing several leads, including that one of the suspects may have been the victim's ex-boyfriend.

Johor deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm (I) Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said police believe Ying Xin had been murdered even before the kidnappers demanded ransom.

He said Ying Xin, the third of four siblings, was kidnapped outside a hypermarket after 9pm on Friday where she had been working as a part-time sales girl.

"The victim's mother lodged a police report the following morning when the kidnappers called at 6.20am and demanded a ransom," SAC Tun Hisan told a press conference yesterday at the state police headquarters.

Ying Xin?s father owns a car repair workshop while her mother is a housewife.

Police have ruled out the involvement of Ah Long.

It is learnt that the kidnappers demanded RM60,000 but family members only managed to raise RM30,000, which was dropped off at an undisclosed location at about 3am on Monday.

Police detained seven suspects in Kulai on Monday but released three of them after questioning.

The remaining four, aged between 16 and 22 years, are odd-job workers and have been remanded until Sept 21 to assist investigations.

Police recovered two-thirds of the ransom money and a silver Perodua Kembara.

SAC Tun Hisan said after questioning the suspects, police were able to locate the victim?s body, which was then sent to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital mortuary.

The autopsy report revealed that the victim had been strangled before her body was set on fire. It also found that she had not been raped.

Her family members arrived at the mortuary at 3.30pm to identify the body.

The five people left about 30 minutes later.