Body of missing Blackburn man found in woodland (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Body of missing Blackburn man found in woodland

11:48am Monday 14th January 2013 in News By Vanessa Cornall, Crime reporter

A BODY found in woodland has been confirmed as that of a missing Blackburn man.

Police closed Stones Bank Road in Belmont on Friday when officers searching for 32-year-old Jonathon Hulme, discovered the body of a man in woods.

Official identification has now taken place and police confirmed they had found Mr Hulme, who worked for family business Happy Days Removals in Blackburn.

Tributes have been flooding into social networking site Facebook for Mr Hulme, who was known as ‘Jonny’ to his friends, following his death.

Mr Hulme’s family reported him missing after no one had seen him since Wednesday.

They had become increasingly concerned for his welfare after finding his van abandoned in a layby on the A666 at Belmont. police said.

A large scale search was launched and shortly after 10.15am officers found Mr Hulme.

Det Supt Paul Withers, of Lancashire Constabulary’s Force Major Incident team, said: “A Home Office post mortem examination has taken place and at this stage has been unable to ascertain a cause of death. I can say though that Mr Hulme has no marks of violence or injuries from a third person on his body and we are still awaiting results of toxicology tests.

“While I await these results I will be carrying out further inquiries into Mr Hulme’s lifestyle.”

Yesterday, his family said they were too upset to talk.

Tributes on Facebook included a posting by Gregg O'Brien which said: “Such a shame that such a nice guy would be taken so soon. RIP Jonny, missed by many remembered by everyone. x”

Another friend Samantha Taylor Corbett, posted: “RIP Jonny I’m going to miss you so much mate. Shine like a diamond. xxx”

Other tributes included Siobhan Mckenna: “RIP Jonny. Still can't believe it, hope you’re flying high with the angels! Sleep tight. xxx.”