Missing student: Police find body in river

POLICE searching for a student who vanished on a freshers’ night out have found a body in a river.

A huge search operation to find Thomas Jones, pictured, had been focused near a footbridge over the River Severn in Worcester.

The student, due to start his studies in primary education at Worcester University this week, sent a photo to friends at 3.45am on September 19 from railings near the river before disappearing. Yesterday, a spokesman for West Mercia Police said: ‘Sadly, officers searching for missing 18-year-old Thomas Jones have recovered a body. Thomas’s next of kin have been informed but as formal identification has not yet taken place, no further details can be released at this time.’ Earlier this week, his parents Vicki and Ian Jones, from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, appealed for residents near the scene to check their back gardens for any sign of Thomas. Mrs Jones said: ‘We are caught between trying to keep a sense of normality and the reality. It’s very difficult.’

Two men, both 20, were arrested on suspicion of murder but were told they faced no further action.