Body found after River Ouse search (From York Press)

Body found after River Ouse search

9:00am Thursday 28th August 2008

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POLICE have recovered a body from the River Ouse following a massive search for a missing York pensioner.

The operation was sparked yesterday after a walker spotted a walking stick and a pair of shoes on the riverside near an abandoned red car in Nether Poppleton at about 11am.

A police spokesman said it is thought the items could have belonged to an 82-year-old local man who was reported missing on Tuesday morning.

At around 4pm police frogmen pulled the body of an unidentified man out of the river about a quarter of a mile upstream of Upper Poppleton.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “During the search for an elderly York man, who was reported missing on Tuesday, officers recovered a body from the river.

“We are not yet in a position to release the identity of this person until we have gone through the formal identification procedures.”

Last night, Inspector Nigel Slater said: “We are not carrying out any further searches at this time.”

A team of about 20 police officers, with the help of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), specially trained search officers, York police dog handlers, North York Moors mountain rescue, the fire brigade and an RAF rescue helicopter, teamed together for the search yesterday in the hunt for the missing pensioner.

An underwater search and rescue team was also drafted in to scour the river.

The area around the scene was sealed off all day while the police teams investigated the riverbank and surrounding vicinity.

Speaking at the scene yesterday, Inspector Mark Khan, who headed the search team, said officers were “extremely concerned” for the welfare of the missing man.

He added the investigation into the disappearance of the pensioner was not being treated as suspicious.

Insp Khan said: “We are currently undergoing an extensive search into a missing elderly man and the walking stick and gents slip-on shoes, which were discovered on the riverside by a walker, both which we believe are connected.

“We are very concerned about the whereabouts of this man at this time.”

Insp Khan added that police were not at this stage ready to release the name or photograph of the 82-year-old local man.

Anyone with information should phone York police on 0845 6060 247.

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