Richmond Falls tragedy as body found in river search for boy, 12

A body has been found following an urgent search for a missing 12-year-old boy who fell into the water at a busy beauty spot.

Police have confirmed the body of a child has been discovered in the water following a massive search operation at the North Yorkshire beauty spot. Teams from North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, and even Mountain Rescue officials aided in the significant search operation after the unnamed boy was reported missing on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the service confirmed in a statement that the body was recovered on Saturday night, a matter of hours after the search was launched at roughly 5pm.

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They told Teeside Live: "Following further searches of the river, sadly search teams recovered a child’s body from the water at 10.45pm today (Saturday, August 16)."

Police added the body is uet to be officially identified, but said the family of the missing boy have been informed, saying: "The body is yet to be identified but the boy’s family have been informed and are receiving support from specially-trained officers.

"Emergency services currently remain at the scene. We are not treating the death as suspicious and we are not in a position to share any further information at this time."

Locals had watched on as the search unfolded this weekend, with specialist teams crowding what would typically be a crowded local swimming spot.

Underwater dive teams were among the specialists deployed to the falls on the River Swale, with police initially saying they would be conducting "extensive searches".

A police spokesperson said in an early statement released on Saturday: "At 5pm today we received reports that a 12-year-old boy had entered the river in Richmond and not been seen since.

"We deployed officers who have conducted extensive searches alongside underwater search teams and specialist search and rescue teams."

Families typically pack out Richmond Falls during the summertime, with the series of small waterfalls and shallow pools proving popular for people hoping to escape the heat.