Body discovered in river is missing Stephen Burn
Sep 7 2010 The Journal
A BODY found in the River Wear in Durham has been confirmed as that of missing man Stephen Burn.
The 26-year-old vanished more than a week ago after he walked out of a wedding reception at Durham Rowing Club, following an argument with his girlfriend.
But hopes that he would be found alive have ended after police divers pulled his body from the River Wear, near Baths Bridge, close to where he was last seen. Friends who set up a Facebook page to help find Stephen have been flooding the site with tributes and messages of condolence.
The body was spotted by a passer-by at around 8am on Sunday.
Police cordoned off a stretch of the river between Baths Bridge and Durham Rowing Club, and divers from an underwater search team recovered the body at around 11am. Stephen, who lived with his girlfriend, Sarah, in Witton Gilbert, County Durham, was last seen at a friend’s wedding on August 28.
But during the evening reception, at Durham Rowing Club, he had an argument with his partner.
Stephen, who had recently become a father to a baby girl called Skye, walked out some time after 11.30pm, heading off in the direction of Baths Bridge. At first his friends and family were not overly concerned.
But on Sunday afternoon the devoted Sunderland fan failed to meet his sister, Joanne, 29, at the Stadium of Light, where they both have season tickets.
Stephen had recently moved in with Sarah and Skye at a house in May Lea, Witton Gilbert. He worked for a roller door company which has a head office in Stoke but has contracts across the UK.
