Police officers from the Met had been scouring the area of a park in London after reports of a teen getting into trouble in the water in the middle of the day on Friday
A search for a missing teen has been called off after a body was found. The 15-year-old vanished while swimming on Friday (April 4) at around 3pm.
The teenager was out in broad daylight where he was last seen and emergency services rushed to a lake at Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham, London. The Metropolitan Police (Met) has now confirmed the search has been called off as a body has been found, reports the Mirror.
The force originally said the boy was 16, but has since confirmed his age as 15. A Met Police spokesperson said: “Met Police has suspended a search for a 15-year-old boy at Beckenham Place Park, following the discovery of a body.”
It continued: “Officers were called to the park shortly after 15:00hrs on Friday, 4 April following reports of a boy going missing after getting into difficulty in the water.
“Specialist diving teams were in attendance alongside the London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade. A boy was recovered from the lake at around 22:42hrs on Friday, 4 April.”
The force confirmed the boy’s family had been made aware and were being supported. Officers removed police tape around the lake this afternoon (Saturday, April 5) and they have left the scene.
Beckenham Place Park spans 98 hectares and contains large areas of woodland as well as lakes. There is a purpose-built swimming lake with depths of up to 3.5 metres.
It comes after a seperate family’s ‘tragic loss’ when human remains were found near Stoke-on-Trent just weeks ago.
The remains were discovered on March 2 by a member of the public near Festival Park in Etruria.
Since, DNA evidence has linked the remains to missing Darren Green. Green went missing on July 16 of last year. The death of the 42-year-old from Stoke is not being treated as suspicious.
His family thanked police in a moving statement following the update. They said: “Today we have been informed of the tragic loss of Darren. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everybody affected by this.
“We would like to thank the emergency services and Staffordshire Police for their professionalism, care and understanding and ask that our privacy be respected at this sad time.”
Specialist officers confirmed they were supporting the family at the time, Staffordshire Police confirmed.
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