Missing Ed: Body Found

27 January 2013, 08:19 | Updated: 27 January 2013, 08:25

Police searching for a man from Luton who went missing at a work Christmas party in Essex have found a body.

Essex Police say they recovered a body from Roydon Marina on the Hertfordshire/Essex border on Saturday 26 January 2013.  Officers had been alerted by a member of the public on a boat who had spotted what they believed to be a body at 10.40am.

Ed Gillespie (right) was last seen at a work event at Roydon Marina in the early hours of Saturday 22 December 2012.  His family raised the alarm when he failed to return home.

Extensive searches have been taking place ever since.  Ed's glasses were found on Friday 28 December.

Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Hooper said: "The body has not been formally identified at this time but we have suspended our search for Ed and his family have been informed of this discovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very distressing time.

"We would like to place on the record our thanks to everyone who has assisted us in our search for Ed and are sorry that the news we have is so sad."

The coroner has been informed of the discovery of the body and police are now going to work with her to confirm who the body belonged to.