Body found in Avon Gorge in search for missing New Zealander

Body of man recovered by police in early hours of Tuesday

(Avon and Somerset Police)

A body has been found by police in the search for a missing man from New Zealand who suddenly stopped replying to his fiancee’s calls last week.

Officers from Avon and Somerset Police recovered the body from Avon Gorge, Bristol, in the early hours of Tuesday.

Although formal identification is yet to take place, the force said it has updated the family of the missing 31-year-old Joseph Day.

Kelsey Mulcahy, Mr Day’s partner, had travelled to London from their home in Clifton, Bristol, on Saturday.

She said she had been texting him up until 9.30pm when he suddenly stopped responding, which she described as exceptionally out of character for Mr Day.

“I cannot stress enough how out of character this is for him,” she told Bristol Live.

“We have been together for five years, he wouldn’t do this to me, we have a very happy relationship we were both looking forward to going to Bath today.

“I’m terrified something has happened.”

A statement from Avon and Somerset Police reads: “In the early hours of this morning (Tuesday 3 May) police located and recovered the body of a man in Avon Gorge, Bristol.

“While formal identification has not yet taken place, we have updated the family of missing 31-year-old Joseph Day.

“Our hearts go out to them and we thank them for their patience while enquiries into the circumstances of death continue.

“We’d ask the public to avoid speculation and respect the privacy of Joseph’s family at this time.”

Mr Day and Ms Mulcahy reportedly moved to Clifton in January from New Zealand and do not have many friends in Bristol.

According to Bristol Live, the friends of Ms Mulcahy had travelled over from London to help search for him.

The 31-year old was a former cameraman for the New Zealand broadcasterTVNZ. Josh Tasman-Jones, a close friend of Mr Day, told his former colleagues that he and many others had been “shaken up” by his disappearance.