{"id":8048,"date":"2024-12-12T20:45:19","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T20:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/missing-rugby-stars-body-found-after-storm-darragh\/"},"modified":"2024-12-12T20:45:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T20:45:19","slug":"missing-rugby-stars-body-found-after-storm-darragh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/missing-rugby-stars-body-found-after-storm-darragh\/","title":{"rendered":"Missing rugby star’s body found after Storm Darragh"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"NorthumbriaNorthumbria Police\/PA Wire<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tom Voyce retired from rugby in 2013 and has been living in Alnwick since 2020<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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A body has been found in the search for former England rugby international Tom Voyce, who went missing in an area flooded during Storm Darragh.<\/p>\n

Police feared the 43-year-old had died after trying to cross Abberwick Ford, near Bolton, Northumberland, in a vehicle which was then pulled along by the current.<\/p>\n

A search had been ongoing since Sunday, but Northumbria Police’s Marine Unit discovered a body near Abberwick Mill earlier.<\/p>\n

Formal identification is yet to take place, but Mr Voyce’s next of kin have been notified. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Concerns were raised after Mr Voyce, who was capped nine times for England from 2001 until 2006, had not returned home from being out with friends on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ReutersReuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Former rugby player Tom Voyce, pictured here during his time at Gloucester, had been missing since Sunday<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Northumbria Police’s Ch Supt Helena Barron said: “This is an extremely sad development and our thoughts very much continue to be with Mr Voyce’s loved ones.”<\/p>\n

Officers do not believe there to be any third-party involvement.<\/p>\n

The rugby player’s family and friends were involved in the search alongside the police, mountain rescue teams and the National Police Air Service.<\/p>\n

His wife Anna and family previously thanked police, friends and the local community for their help and support.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"PAPA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Northumbria Police’s Marine Unit discovered a body earlier<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The search was carried out in “very challenging” conditions due to the river flow and level being heightened after the heavy rain over the weekend, police said.<\/p>\n

Mr Voyce, from Truro in Cornwall, played for Wasps, Bath and Gloucester before retiring from the sport in 2013.<\/p>\n

He previously worked for the bank Investec and has been living in Alnwick since 2020.<\/p>\n

Writing on X on Wednesday, Rugby World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio said: “It’s the most horrific news and all I would say at this juncture is that please let us all respect Tom’s family and their suffering right now and keep them in all our thoughts.”<\/p>\n

Matt Dawson, who played alongside Mr Voyce at Wasps between 2004 and 2006, previously said he could not “express his sadness”.<\/p>\n

Premiership Rugby said it was “devastated” and thinking about Mr Voyce’s loved ones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"PAPA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The body was found in the River Aln near Abberwick Mill<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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A carol service due to take place at Bolton Chapel, near to the search, was cancelled on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The Reverend Gill Lonsdale said: “Nobody really has the heart to gather and sing carols, so it felt the right decision not to hold the event this year.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Northumbria Police\/PA Wire Tom Voyce retired from rugby in 2013 and has been living in Alnwick since 2020 A body has been found in the search for former England rugby international Tom Voyce, who went missing in an area flooded during Storm Darragh. Police feared the 43-year-old had died after trying to cross Abberwick Ford, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8050,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8048\/revisions\/8050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}