Essex Police confirm body is missing Chelmsford man Timothy Hatcher
It follows an extensive five month long search effort
Essex Police have confirmed that a body found in Maldon on earlier this month is, that of 69-year-old Timothy Hatcher.
Officers were called to Cut-a-Thwart Lane at around 5.30pm on Saturday 13 May after a member of the public reported a suspicious item in the water.
This was confirmed to be a body and identification followed an extensive investigation including DNA enquiries and a forensic post-mortem.
His death is not being treated as suspicious and a file has been prepared for the coroner.
Timothy was reported missing to Essex Police on 20 December last year, prompting a large-scale missing person investigation.
Detective Superintendent Scott Egerton:
“This is terribly sad news...
"...but I hope that this confirmation provides some closure to Timothy’s loved ones".
“The investigation into Timothy’s disappearance was a significant one for us and included widespread searches across Chelmsford and surrounding areas".
“Officers and staff, including search specialists, were involved in the investigation to find Timothy and we carried out around 400 hours of searching covering 5km of land and a 4km stretch of the River Chelmer".
“We had the support of Essex Search and Rescue, and utilised kayaks, sonar, and an underwater drone".
“We carried reviewed hundreds of hours of CCTV footage, analysed phone and financial data, and carried out house-to-house enquiries".
“This was a complex investigation and search and clearly this is not the result we had been hoping for".
“Our officers were supported by dozens of people in the community as well as Essex Search and Rescue and I would like to thank them for their support.”