Body found in search for London student missing for fortnight

Police searching for missing 19-year-old student Richard Okorogheye have said a body has been found in Epping Forest.

The Metropolitan Police said they were informed by Essex Police that the body of a man was found in a pond in the woodland.

Inquiries are under way to identify the body.

Scotland Yard added that detectives investigating Mr Okorogheye’s disappearance are aware and his family are being supported by specially trained officers.

Mr Okorogheye, who has sickle cell disease, left his family home in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London on the evening of March 22, and was reported missing two days later.

He was last seen on CCTV in Loughton, Essex, in the early hours of Tuesday March 23, walking towards Epping Forest. Police divers had previously been seen in a body of water in the woodland.

Initial police inquiries identified Mr Okorogheye leaving his home address and heading in the direction of Ladbroke Grove at around 8.30pm.

Police said further inquiries have established that he then took a taxi journey from the W2 area of London to a residential street in Loughton.

Speaking to The Guardian, Mr Okorogheye’s mother, Evidence Joel, said waiting for information on her son’s whereabouts has been “hell”.

She said: “I feel completely helpless. Helpless, and also, sorry to use this word, but I feel useless.”

Ms Joel previously said that her son had spoken of “struggling to cope” with university pressures and had been shielding during the Covid-19 lockdown.