Wealthy hotelier Oliver Gobat feared dead after body is found inside burnt-out car

The Foreign Office said it was aware of the reports and was urgently investigating

A wealthy British-educated hotelier reported missing on the Caribbean island of St Lucia is feared dead after police discovered a corpse inside his burnt-out car.

The family of Oliver Gobat, 38, were reported to be waiting for confirmation that a charred body found in the car on the Cap Estate, an exclusive resort area on the island, is that of the property developer and former Surrey junior cricketer.

The Foreign Office said it was aware of the reports and was urgently investigating.

Unconfirmed reports from St Lucia suggest Mr Gobat’s family had lodged a ‘missing person’ report with police after he failed to return home on Friday night.

The family are well known on the island. Mr Gobat's parents opened the luxury Cap Estate in 2008. It rates among the Caribbean’s most luxurious resorts.

Mr Grobat's brother, Rufus, told The Times last night: “We’re just awaiting news. Nothing is confirmed at the moment because there has been no formal identification...we don’t have all the facts.”

Double Olympic decathlon gold medallist Daley Thompson, who knew the Gobat family, paid tribute to the missing man on Twitter.

"My love and thoughts go out to friends and family of Ollie Gobat. He was a gem and his family must have been so proud of him. RIP my friend. X", he wrote.

BBC sports pundit and Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Denise Lewis also tweeted her condolences. She said: "Just read the shocking news about the death of Oliver Gobat. So very sad. My condolences to his friends and family. Such a lovely guy."

Sources were reported as saying the victim had been shot twice in the head before being doused with petrol and set alight. A post-mortem examination is due to be held later.