River body found in search for missing man

Police searching for a young man who vanished in the freezing weather today found a body.

A man was found in the River Chelmer in Chelmsford, Essex, by police divers searching for missing 22-year-old Adam Passfield.

Mr Passfield disappeared after a night out in Chelmsford 11 days ago.

He was last seen at 3am on Saturday December 19 after an evening out with members of the Heybridge Swifts Football Club.

His father Kevin Passfield previously made a desperate plea for the safe return of his son who "loves football and sport".

On the social networking site Facebook more than 10,000 people signed up to a group dedicated to finding Mr Passfield.

"Adam's family have been informed about the discovery and are being supported by police family liaison officers," an Essex Police spokeswoman said.

"The body has not been formally identified."

A spokesman for Heybridge Swifts football club said Mr Passfield was a "very popular" team member who had been with the club for about four years, making 37 appearances for the first team.

He said Mr Passfield had been playing with the reserve team to regain fitness following a long-term injury.