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Pierre Barnes: Body found in island search | Pierre Barnes: Body found in island search |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Police searching for a 12-year-old Lincolnshire boy who went missing on an island in France have found a body. | |
Pierre Barnes vanished on Saturday while cycling on Porquerolles, hours after arriving for a family holiday. | |
The prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Xavier Tarabeux, said he is sure the body is that of Pierre. | |
The boy's father, Stephen Barnes, said the body was found by a pleasure boat in deep water close to the spot where Pierre's bike was discovered. | |
Mr Barnes said: "I feel as though it will bring an element of closure and for that we should be grateful." | Mr Barnes said: "I feel as though it will bring an element of closure and for that we should be grateful." |
The 12-year-old, from Grantham, had been cycling when a storm swept in on the island, most of which lies within the Port-Cros Parc National, off the southern coast of France. | |
Mr Barnes said: "Police have spoken to my wife twice in the past hour. They say that the body is in a distressing condition. | Mr Barnes said: "Police have spoken to my wife twice in the past hour. They say that the body is in a distressing condition. |
"I believe it will be Pierre." | "I believe it will be Pierre." |
Tarabeux said: "We are sure it is Pierre. There will now be an autopsy and we expect the results soon, perhaps tomorrow or Saturday." | |
Mr Barnes said the body had been taken to the mainland and he had not yet been asked to go and formally identify it. | |
Pierre's bike, together with one of his shoes, was found with a broken chain about 3km from the holiday home his family were renting. | |
Search teams scoured the island and Mr Barnes said at a news conference on Tuesday that the response from people in France had been "overwhelming". | |
Mr Barnes said he had given up hope of finding his son alive, but said the family hoped to find his body. | Mr Barnes said he had given up hope of finding his son alive, but said the family hoped to find his body. |
It is believed that Pierre's mother and three siblings, Zoe, 17, Desmond, 15, and Clemence, 13, are still on the island. | |
Zoe has described her younger brother as "a little eccentric, bright and clever". | Zoe has described her younger brother as "a little eccentric, bright and clever". |