Harvey Parker: Body found in River Thames during search for missing student

Police believe the gifted music student had entered the water after leaving a nightclub alone

Harvey Parker was last seen on CCTV walking towards Embankment on 17 December 2021 (PA)

Police have recovered the body of a man from the River Thames amid their search for 20-year-old Harvey Parker, who went missing after leaving a nightclub last month.

The Metropolitan Police was alerted by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution just before midday on Tuesday (4 January) to reports of a body in the river near Embankment.

Officers from the Met’s Marine Support Unit recovered the body.

The death is being treated as unexplained while a report is being compiled by a coroner.

Family liaison officers have informed Mr Parker’s family of the discovery while formal indentification of the body awaits.

Mr Parker, a gifted music student at the University of York who worked front of house at Theatre Royal Stratford East, was last seen leaving Heaven Nightclub, by Charing Cross Railway Station, alone at about 2.15am on Friday 17 December.

After leaving the venue, CCTV footage shows him walking down Craven Street and south towards Embankment.

A friend of his said Mr Parker had been to a Little Simz concert in Brixton, south London, before going to the nightclub.

On Wednesday (5 January), the Met Police said that investigators had viewed CCTV near the Golden Jubilee Bridge and believe Mr Parker may have entered the water there.

The police force said that there was nothing to suggest that anyone else was involved in his disappearance.

Detective Chief Inspector Lucy O’Connor, of the Central South Command Unit, said: “Sadly a body has been recovered from the Thames near where Harvey was last seen.

“We are providing Harvey’s family with all the available information. We are also asking for media to please respect the family’s privacy at this challenging and difficult time.”