A sergeant involved in the search for missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham has called the discovery of human remains the result of "divine intervention".

Investigators are awaiting the results of a post-mortem to confirm whether the remains are those of Ms Graham.

The British-born student disappeared on 13 September and a body was discovered by authorities in Albemarle County on Saturday.

The 18-year-old was in her second year of study at the University of Virginia and went missing from Charlottesville after a night out with friends.

The main suspect in her disappearance is 32-year-old Jesse Matthew, who grew up in Albemarle. He was the last person seen with Graham and is being held in Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail after being charged with abduction with intent to defile.

Matthew has also been charged with abducting another woman from the Washington DC area in 2005 and raping her.

The BBC reports that authorities have ascertained a "forensic link" between Mr Matthew and missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, whose body was found in Albemarle County three months after disappearing from Charlottesville in October 2009.

Sergeant Dale Terry said he and his team were coming to the end of their search for the day and were on their way back to their vehicle when he decided they should keep going.

"Luckily we came upon what we came upon," he told Fox5.

"Divine intervention is the only thing I can think of … I do believe God wanted us to find what we found. I don't know how else to explain it other than something inside me told me to just continue to look."