A DEVASTATED family have been left “in pieces” after the body of a missing teenager was found in a river months after vanishing.
Alex Bendall, 18, known as Alice, was reported missing from Dorchester, Dorset, on February 12.
The body of the missing teenager was found in a river[/caption]
She went missing two months ago from Dorchester[/caption]
Cops said a body had been found in the River Frome in the area of Lubbecke Way in Dorchester at around 3pm on Saturday.
Alex, who was known to their family by the pronouns she/her, had been due to start a new job caring for people with dementia and had a driving test booked in the days after vanishing.
In an appeal last month, Alex’s father Paul Bendall, 60, said: “It’s like someone had put a bomb in the family and we’re just in pieces.
“We just want you home with the family so we can just be complete again.”
Her mother Vicky said: “You have so much to live for. It’s out of character to go wandering without telling us where she could be.”
Extensive searches of the area involving National Police Air Service, Dorset Search and Rescue, Wiltshire Search and Rescue, Dorset Search Dogs, Hampshire Search & Rescue Dogs and Wessex 4×4 had taken place in the weeks after their disappearance.
The death is not being treated as suspicious and the coroner has been informed as well as Alex’s heartbroken family.
A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: “A body sadly found in a river in Dorchester is believed to be that of a missing teenager from the Dorchester area.
“The report of the discovery at the River Frome in the area of Lubbecke Way was received by Dorset Police at around 3pm on Saturday.
“Although formal identification has not yet taken place, it is believed to be 18-year-old Alex Bendall, who was reported missing on Sunday, February 12.”