Anthony Knott: Police believe body found in river is missing firefighter
Written by News on 10/01/2020
A body found in a river in East Sussex is believed to be the missing firefighter Anthony Knott, police have said.
A member of the public alerted officers to the body of a man in the River Ouse in Newhaven at 9:41am on Friday.
Mr Knott, from Orpington in Kent, was last seen after a Christmas pub crawl in Lewes on 20 December.
The father-of-four, 33, left The Lamb pub alone at about 7.16pm and police say his phone was switched off shortly afterwards.
Sussex Police deployed boats, dogs, drones and helicopters in their three-week effort to find him.
The force also released a CCTV video which they believed showed the London Fire Brigade firefighter walking alone on the night he was last seen.
Mr Knott’s fiancee Lucy Otto described his disappearance as a complete mystery on Christmas Eve.
She said in a tearful interview with Sky News: “I don’t understand how someone can just walk out of a pub and disappear.
“There’s no eyewitness statements, there’s not much CCTV, there’s nothing really to go on.
“And to be gone for this long, I just don’t get it, I just do not understand it.”
She added: “I know the weather was really bad that day and there was bad flooding, I don’t know if he’s tried to come home and come across some water and hurt himself.”
Detective Inspector Mark Rosser said after the body was recovered from the river: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Anthony at this difficult time. We too are saddened by this update and would ask the public and media to respect the families’ privacy at this time.
“We would like to thank the public for their tremendous support with our investigation into the disappearance of Anthony, along with our partner agencies and volunteers who assisted with the search.”
(c) Sky News 2020: Anthony Knott: Police believe body found in river is missing firefighter
