Daughter of a wealthy businessmen, police were attempting to negotiate with the kidnappers in an attempt to get Anneli back home and safe with her family.

One is a 61-year-old precious metal dealer from Dresden and the other a 39-year-old unemployed chef from Bavaria.

Some 1,200 police were involved in a search for the missing girl, and on Sunday officers found DNA that matched that of a known criminal on her bicycle.

Anneli-Marie, R. has not been seen since leaving her parents’ house in Meissen, Saxony, at 7.30pm on 13 August.

They have not released the girl’s second name out of concerns for her privacy.

Later that evening her kidnappers used her mobile phone to call her parents and demand a €1.2 million (£845,000) ransom.

“The kidnappers should know we will fulfill their demands so we can take our child in our arms again”, they said in an open letter.

“Anneli, we miss you”.

Dresden police chief Dieter Kroll said: “This is presumably the last sign of life of Anneli and the telephone conversation, which was very short, was then finished and interrupted”.

There was no indication of a sexual assault, according to officials.

The two men were arrested following a raid using armed police over night.

But today, a body was found in an abandoned farmyard in the village of Klipphausen not far from where the 17-year-old lived.

Police believe the kidnappers may have lost their nerve after he was freed a day later, with no ransom paid.

In 2002, Magnus Gäfgen demanded €1m for the return of a banker’s son – but he had already killed the 11-year-old.