Body found in hunt for missing York student

Officers searching for missing 20-year-old Ethan Peters today found a man’s body in the River Foss.

Ethan was last seen at 11.55pm on Coney Street in York on Sunday 2 October 2016.

Underwater search teams and local officers have been conducting extensive searches and at 1.30pm today, Sunday 9 October 2016, a man’s body was found in the River Foss behind the Castle Museum in York.

A formal identification is yet to take place, but Ethan’s family have been informed and are currently receiving support from specially-trained officers.

City of York Council has launched a campaign after a series of river deaths.

The mother of 20-year-old student who died after falling into a York rivers on a night out says council leaders in the city have been forced to act to improve safety after “neglecting it for years”.

Jackie Roberts, whose daughter Megan went missing in January 2014 before her body was found in the River Ouse, has been campaigning since the summer to make revellers more aware of the dangers of York’s rivers and bridges. Joint press briefing on river safety in York.

She says heavy drinking on nights out is just one part of the problem that resulted in three young people drowning after falling into the Ouse or the River Foss in a matter of weeks. There have been at least 26 such deaths in 15 years.

But she said City of York Council has a responsibility to make sure everything possible is done to prevent future tragedies and that the authority should be “addressing the dangers”.

The council has allocated £100,000 for riverside improvements, including better safety equipment and fencing, but it says “increasing awareness and personal responsibility is central to preventing future tragedies”.