A body found floating in a Polish canal has been identified by a family member as that of an Irish soccer fan who came to the country for the European Championship, an official said.
Deputy chief prosecutor Wlodzimierz Marszalkowski told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the family member confirmed the identity of the body as James Nolan, who went missing early Sunday in the northern city of Bydgoszcz. He would not identify the family member, but said it was a close relation.
Documents in Nolan's name were found on the corpse. Marszalkowski said an autopsy would be held on Thursday to establish cause of death.
James Nolan, 21, of Blessington, County Wicklow, disappeared early Sunday in the northern city of Bydgoszcz, sparking a huge search effort in the city. Police divers found a body early Wednesday and authorities were awaiting the arrival of Nolan's father, Jimmy, and other family members later to make a formal identification.
"There is a high probability that this is the body of the man we have been searching for," a spokesman for prosecutors, Jan Bednarek, told AP.
The body was found lying face down in fast-flowing water of the Bydgoszcz Canal and trapped by a weir that runs across it. The canal is an offshoot of the city's Brda River, and brings water for a small hydroelectric plant.
No signs of violence were apparent, Marszalkowski said. Robbery didn't appear to be the motive since 600 zlotys ($200) and a credit card were found on the corpse, he said. An autopsy was planned for Thursday.
The clothing on the body matched a description given by friends of what Nolan was wearing when he went missing, Marszalkowski said.
Police and firefighters, some in boats and others with dogs, had been searching along the river, canal and adjacent waste ground Tuesday and again on Wednesday. Moments before the body was found, two divers in an inflatable dinghy were seen speeding toward the site. A police cordon was quickly set up around the area, which is near a museum and a church.
In a sign of mourning, someone later placed two white candles near the place where the body was found.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/soccer/06/20/euro-2012-fan-missing.ap/index.html#ixzz1yORkiJw3
Article also in The Sun http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/irishsun/irishsunnews/4385224/Nolan-dad-thanks-pals-after-body-find.html
R.I.P
