Julian De Bono: Body is found in river in search for missing man

Julian De Bono who works at the Ipswich job centre was last seen at a party in the early hours of Sunday

Divers searching for the missing man Julian De Bono have found a body, police have confirmed.

Suffolk Police said the body was found by members of a specialist underwater search team in the River Gipping in Ipswich just after 15:00 GMT.

The force said the body had yet to be formally identified but the family of Mr De Bono, aged 63, had been informed.

Post-mortem tests will now take place to find the cause of death, which is currently being treated as unexplained.

CCTV footage and eyewitnesses put Mr De Bono on Yarmouth Road at 01:45 GMT on Sunday and he was seen heading towards London Road.

He had been at a work event before continuing back towards town to continue his night, Suffolk Police said.

Franstine Jones said Mr De Bono is "a really popular friendly guy"

Franstine Jones, a friend of Mr De Bono and a former president of the National Black Police Association, said he was "a really popular friendly guy, a lot of people know him around Ipswich".

"He's always laughing, he's very approachable," she said, adding his friends were "very, very worried" and concerned about his going missing.

Mr De Bono had been at a work event before continuing back towards town to continue his night

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email [e-mail] or WhatsApp [phone]