Friends of an 18-year-old university student missing since last month have spoken of their despair after his body was found in the Serpentine.
Yen Zhen Anthony Soh, known as Anthony, was last seen on March 22 after an evening drinking with friends at Imperial College student union in South Kensington.
His family launched a campaign through Facebook, Twitter and the media to help find the first-year mechanical engineering student.
Some 3,000 people signed up to the Facebook group. But yesterday police divers pulled the body of a man from the lake in Hyde Park. It is yet to be formally identified but is thought to be that of Anthony.
Lin Yang, a friend of his brother Jeff, posted a message of Facebook saying: “Jeff is now with his immediate family, there will be no further searching. Ant’s body has been found.”
Anthony’s other brother Justin called the student “an amazing brother” and told those who had joined the Facebook campaign: “Thank you for every-thing you people have done, even being a member has let us know how much you care for Anthony.”
Friends reported Anthony missing on March 23 when he failed to appear at lectures. Electronic records showed he had not used his swipe card at his halls of residence, Wilson House in Paddington. The body was found by a Hyde Park boat worker yesterday morning.
He said: “We had customers on the lake and someone pointed out there was something. It was floating on the other side of the island. It was caught on one of the chains. We knew there was someone missing and there was a possibility they were in the lake.”
A police cordon was created around the area. Detectives said the death was being treated as “unexplained”.
Friends posted messages on Facebook in tribute to the teenager, whose parents live in Gillingham. Chris Rowlands wrote to Anthony’s brother: “I think you can be proud of such a wonderful man, and hold your head high when calling him your brother.
“Anthony was an amazing human being, and your entire family has coped incredibly well in the last two weeks. We are all here for you for whatever you need.”