Body found in sea search for boy (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Body found in sea search for boy

10:21am Sunday 22nd July 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

Police searching for a teenage boy who was apparently swept out to sea have recovered a body.

The family of missing 16-year-old Reece Sweeney has been told of the development.

The body was later formally identified as that of Reece, Grampian Police confirmed.

Mr Sweeney was in the water at Banff Bay in Aberdeenshire with two friends when he vanished in the early hours of Saturday. It is believed he was swept away by a wave.

The search, which involved the coastguard, RNLI lifeboats, an air/sea rescue helicopter and a Grampian Police underwater search team, found no trace of the missing teenager on Saturday.

Further searches were carried out on Sunday morning by police officers and the coastguard and Grampian Police later confirmed the discovery of the body.

In a statement, the force said: "Grampian Police can advise that following a police-co-ordinated search by HM Coastguard earlier this morning, the body of a young male was recovered from the shoreline at Banff Bay. A formal identification of the male is yet to take place.

"The family of Reece Sweeney, 16, who was reported missing near the mouth of the River Deveron, Banff, during the early hours of Saturday, have been informed of the discovery."