Body of missing British man, 48, discovered in church tower of Spanish village after neighbours complained about the smell
The body of a presumed missing British man has been found, more than a week after the Spanish mountain rescue service was deployed to search for him.
Steven Michael B, 48, disappeared on July 11 in the northern Spanish village of Las Salas after an argument with his wife.
Today it was announced that a body was found in the bell tower of the village church.
Manuel Valbuena, mayor of the Cremenes municipality, of which Las Salas is a part, told local press that the dead man had yet to be officially identified, but that all indications were that it was the missing Briton.
A neighbour is said to have raised the alarm after smelling a strong odour coming from the church tower and making the horrific discovery.
Steven Michael B, 48, (pictured) disappeared on July 11 in the northern Spanish village of Las Salas after an argument with his wife
Drones were used in the search for his whereabouts
There is no indication at this time that it is being treated as a crime. It is expected that after the autopsy, police will announce that they are not looking for anyone else in connection with Steven’s death.
Last Sunday it was announced that the mountain rescue service was also looking for the enthusiastic mountain climber.
Officials admitted they were concerned for Steven’s safety after he allegedly left his wife in a garage after an argument and dumped personal belongings before abandoning his car.
The search for him began on July 11 in the municipality of Cremenes, where he was reported missing.
The Spanish National Centre for Missing Persons (CNDES), part of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, published the first photo of the missing man shortly afterwards, although his name was only partially mentioned.
Mountain experts from the Guardia Civil’s Greim unit, the same type of team that searched for missing Jay Slater in Tenerife on June 17 after he disappeared and was found dead 29 days later, were mobilised, along with drones, a helicopter and a specialist sniffer dog.
The banks of the Esla River, a tributary of the Duero River, and the mountainous areas near it were the focus of the search, before police divers began searching the river itself.
Last month, a missing British hiker was found dead in the Spanish Pyrenees.
Police and other emergency services have been searching for the 70-year-old Londoner after he disappeared on June 24.
On June 27, it was announced that he had been found dead near the Aspe peak, a mountain in the western Pyrenees of Huesca, on the western side of the Aragon Valley.
The 2,678-metre-high mountain peak towers above the Spanish ski area of Candanchu and the Somport Pass on the border with France.
The three Greim officers who found the body of the anonymous hiker alerted a nearby police helicopter so that the hiker could be taken to a nearby mountain hut and handed over to employees of a funeral home.
It is believed that the dead man was walking between the Lizara and Candanchu mountain huts.
The Guardia Civil in Huesca had received a message from the British Interpol office in Manchester containing the coordinates of an SOS wristband worn by the walker.
Images released at the time by the Guardia Civil showed the rescue operation for the body of the tragic Briton.