A body has been found in the search for a 19-year-old Nigerian student, Richard Okorogheye, the UK’s Metropolitan police said on Monday.
Although the body is yet to be confirmed as Okorogheye’s, the police said his family has been informed of the discovery.
“On the afternoon of Monday, 5 April, the Met was informed by colleagues from Essex Police that the body of a man had been found in a pond in Epping Forest,” the police said in a statement.
“Enquiries are underway to identify the body.
“Detectives investigating the disappearance of 19-year-old Richard Okorogheye are aware. Richard’s family are being supported by specially trained officers and kept updated with developments.
“Officers remain at the scene and enquiries continue.”
Okorogheye, an Oxford Brookes student, left his family home on the evening of March 22 in Ladbroke Grove, West London and was reported missing two days later, police have said.
Investigations revealed that he took a taxi to Loughton, more than 22 kilometres from where he lives.
Before his disappearance, Okorogheye who lives with sickle cell disease had been shielding, meaning he was not expected to leave home and minimise face-to-face contact for health reasons.
Okorogheye’s father, Christian, in a recent interview with Channels Television described him as a tall and strong teenager who enjoys talking to his friend.
His father blamed his disappearance on depression following the lockdown and long stay at home.
“He is a tall strong man; he enjoys talking to his friends,” he said. “At a point, he got cut off from his friends. Somehow, it happened that he met some people who we were not 100% sure about.
“It has been very devastating. I don’t know how to describe it but it is serious. All we want to do now is how to get him back and tell us his story.
“Richard has been on some kind of setting at home and I think that got him depressed in some ways. When you keep someone at home for like one month plus, and with all these things happening, it added to it. I think he got really fed up of the whole thing.”
