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Police divers recover body from River Aire
POLICE divers searching for a missing Leeds student have found a body in the River Aire in the heart of the city.
It was expected after formal identification that it would be confirmed as that of 19-year-old Leeds University Matthew Wilcox, who vanished nine days ago after leaving a city centre nightclub.
Police divers are understood to have recovered the man's body near to the rear of Asda headquarters at around 2pm yesterday.
The team had been searching the river for some days while other police had scoured city centre ginnels, yards and backwaters in a bid to find the teenager, from Wickersley, near Rotherham.
The body was found a short distance upstream from the Mission nightclub in Heaton's Court off Lower Briggate which geography student Matthew had left at 3am last Friday morning.
The discovery of the body follows a major Facebook and YouTube campaign by Matthew's friends and fellow students and supported by 40,000 internet surfers.
As the large-scale search continued, police refused to rule out the possibility that Matthew might be discovered lying injured in the city centre and asked business people to check their premises.
As soon as the body was discovered officers were despatched to alert Matthew's family and friends who had been hoping the student might yet be found alive somewhere.
It is believed those hopes had begun to fade CCTV footage were believed to reveal sequences featuring Matthew close to the river banks not long after leaving the night club where he had spent an enjoyable session with friends.
Matthew had apparently never returned to his student accommodation in the Clarence Dock area in Leeds.
He was subsequently reported missing by his family when he failed to turn-up for a charity fund raising event at his parent's home on Saturday.
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
