Essex Police find body of missing boy, 15, last seen in the lake near Lakeside Shopping Centre
Family’s agony as police find body of their son, 15, who was last seen in a lake near Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex
- Essex Police said that the discovery was made shortly after 12.40pm on Saturday
- Police were called out on Friday night after reports a teenager had gone missing
- They rushed to Lakeside Shopping Centre and asked for the public to stay clear
- Police said boy’s family has been told and formal identification will take place
By Clare Mccarthy For Mailonline
Published: 09:37 EDT, 1 August 2020 | Updated: 14:13 EDT, 1 August 2020
Police have found the body of a teenager after a search was launched last night to find a 15-year-old boy who was last seen on a lake near Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex.
Witnesses called Essex police to Alexandra Lake at around 8.50pm on Friday, telling officers that the teenager had gone missing while in the water near the Lakeside Travelodge.
Police suspended their search at 12.40pm today, once the body of a teenager was discovered in the lake.
The boy’s family has been informed and formal identification will take place in due course, police said.
Superintendent Craig Saunders said: ‘I want to thank the local community for their patience, and all those involved who have helped with the investigation.’
Images from today’s search show a large-scale search operation, with police vehicles lining the roads around the lake. Another image shows investigators in a dinghy near a piece of equipment on the inflatable aqua par.
The aqua park, which is said to be fully Covid-19 safe, contains slides and ‘blast bags’, which can fire youngsters dozens of feet into the air.
Missing person last seen in Alexandra Lake in Essex at around 8.50pm yesterday was confirmed as a 15-year-old boy
Essex Police search the water and surrounding area for 13 year-old Alexander Lane who went missing yesterday evening near the Lakeside shopping centre at Grays in Essex
A lake close to Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock, Essex, as a body has been found in the search for a 15-year-old boy after reports a teenager had gone missing in the area on Friday evening
One witness told EssexLive yesterday that it felt eerie watching the search take place.
They described seeing emergency services using boats to search the water.
They said: ‘I drove down after my wife saw loads of emergency services down here.
‘There’s a load of incident response teams here – loads of ambulances and fire trucks and specialist diving crews searching the river, which is just at the back of the Travelodge at Lakeside.
One witness told EssexLive yesterday that it felt eerie watching the search take place
‘I overheard a conversation which appears to be a mother of somebody who was in the river,’ another witness said.
‘There’s a sombre mood here. Everyone’s got a job to do and they’re doing it well emergency services-wise. It’s quite eerie watching the boats go over the river carefully as they search.
‘There was a helicopter over and they appear to still be searching. Officers are using torches.’
It came as the UK reported the third hottest day on record on Friday, with temperatures at Heathrow Airport reaching 37.8C.
