POLICE searching for the missing student Sope Peters have recovered a body from the River Wear in Durham City.

Emergency services were called early this afternoon (Sunday, December 8) after a body was spotted in the water near Durham Cathedral, between Prebends Bridge and Framwellgate Bridge.

Formal identification is yet to take place but the 20-year-old’s family has been informed.

He was last seen shortly after midnight on Tuesday, October 29 outside the Klute nightclub, by Elvet Bridge, and told friends he would meet them in Jimmy Allen's bar next door but he never arrived.

Inspector Chris Headley, of Durham Police, said: “It is fair to say that it could be him but we can’t confirm anything until we have had a formal identification.

“We are aware of the fact that Sope has been missing for a number of weeks and it is believed he has possibly gone into the river.

“For another body to emerge it would be a coincidence to say the least. Hence the addition of the fact we have informed his family.”

Mr Peters is from a Nigerian family living in North Virginia in the US and last month his mother, To lu Peters, visited the city, to make an emotional appeal for help to find her son.

Numerous searches have been carried out on the river since the second year Durham University economics student went missing during a night out on October 29.

Insp Headley said the recent bad weather could explain why his body has emerged this weekend.

Insp Headley said: “We had the severe weather on Thursday, which was not just winds, but tidal.

“They can get snagged on something like a tree stump under the water. There are a plethora of reasons why it should take so long to come to the surface.”

He said police were not searching for anyone else in the area.

“The body has been removed from the river and we are going for a formal ID in whatever form that will take and as a precaution his family has been informed,” he added.