Scots police find body at St Abbs
22nd March, 2010
Police in Scotland have found the body of a man, believed to be that of a missing person from Chester-le-Street who has not been seen since just after Christmas.
John Nelson, aged 50 was last seen by a neighbour on the morning of Monday, 28 December in Highfield Rise in Chester-le-Street. He was reported missing by his sister and despite extenisve searches for him since then, no trace has been found of Mr Nelson.
On Saturday police in Durham received a call from colleagues in the Lothian & Borders force, advising them a body had been recovered on rocks about 200 yards west of St Abbs lighthouse, on the Scottish coast around ten miles over the border. It appears the body had not been in the sea but has lain at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff; it may have been there some time.
Although a wallet containing ID was found on the corpse police say it may take a while before a formal identification can be done. In in the meantime Mr Nelson's family have been made aware of developments.
A post mortem will now be carried out to establish a cause of death and, under the procedures which apply in Scotland, a report will go to the Procurator Fiscal. They will then make the decision on whether any further investigation is necessary.
