Tom Voyce: UK police find body in search for ex-England rugby player

Tom Voyce for England in 2006. Photo / Photosport

Police searching for missing former England rugby player Tom Voyce said today they had found a body in the river where his car was swept away in a storm.

“A body has today sadly been found in the search for Tom Voyce,” said Northumbria Police in northeast England.

Concerns were raised for the former England rugby international on Sunday after he failed to return home from visiting friends the previous evening.

Police believe the 43-year-old went into the River Aln near the town of Alnwick after attempting to cross a ford in his car.

His Toyota Hilux was recovered downstream after being swept away by the flood-swollen river and police suspect Voyce had tried to escape the vehicle.

Specialist officers from the marine unit found the body, which is yet to be identified, in the river near to the ford.

Voyce turned out nine times for England between 2001 and 2006, and retired in 2013 having played for Bath and London Wasps.

Over the weekend, the river level was “significantly heightened due to the exceptionally heavy rain”, said Northumbria Police Chief Superintendent Helena Barron.

Storm Darragh, which hit the UK over the weekend, left two confirmed dead when trees fell on their vehicles in northwest and central England.