Sister pays tribute to man found dead in river

Alexander Spence, 30, was found by a member of the public last Thursday in the Bankside area of Hull, just yards from a police search team.

He went missing on Saturday, April 10, after leaving a bar in the city's Princes Avenue at 10.30pm to walk to his home in Strathmore Avenue, after a night out to celebrate a relative's birthday.

He was later seen on closed circuit TV in Beverley Road near the junction with Cottingham Road and Clough Road.

His disappearance sparked a large police search that was followed by more than 85,000 people through the social networking website Facebook.

The body of the gas engineer was found by a group of rowers a day after the case was taken over by the Major Incident Team at Humberside Police, owing to the high volume of information the force had received.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and his death appeared to have been a "tragic accident".

Mr Spence's sister, Alison Bentley, 34, said: "Alexander was a truly special person. He was selfless, generous and loving. You would have to go a very, very long way to find anyone who had a bad word to say about him.

"I feel privileged to call him my brother and friend. I will be eternally grateful for the 30 years that I had him in my life and the wonderful memories he has left me with.

"He will leave a very large hole in the lives of so many people, one that will never be filled."

Ms Bentley added: "On behalf of my family, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported us through the worst days of our lives. The police and Press have been fantastic and we will be forever grateful for their efforts to bring my brother home to us."