Harvey Parker. (Met Police)
Police searching for Harvey Parker, who was last seen outside London’s Heaven nightclub on 17 December, have discovered a body in the River Thames.
While the body has not formally been identified as the 20-year-old student, their family have issued a statement addressing the discovery.
They said: “We are so very sad to report that police have recovered a body from the Thames near where our beautiful Harvey was last seen. Formal identification is underway.
“Our deepest thanks to all of you who searched with us, posted, shared, and supported us and the Met police in finding Harvey. Your love and support ensured so many people knew something of the blazing, glorious person that we were lucky to have in our lives.”
The family said that “so many people have asked what they can do to help”, and asked that those who want to honour Parker donate to a JustGiving page set up by their friends.
“Money raised will fo to young queer support groups, neurodiverse and gender-diverse young people who’d benefit from emotional or mental health support and to help support talented musicians from under-represented communities,” they said.
“We want to ensure that others like Harvey are able to shine as brightly.”
🚨 #FindHarvey 🚨
Truly heartbreaking, awful awful news. A JustGiving page has been opened in honour of the blazing, glorious person that Harvey was. The money raised will go to charities that would be close to Harvey’s heart.
Thank you to everyone who shared and helped 🧡🧡🧡 pic.twitter.com/fQysj0aKzX
— Alex Foster (@fozzili) January 5, 2022
The JustGiving page in memory of Parker has raised more than £9,000 in less that two hours.
Harvey Parker has been missing for almost three weeks
On 16 December, Harvey Parker had been to a Little Simz concert in Brixton and made a quick pitstop at home before going out clubbing.
Their mother, Amanda, told Metro that they were “really upbeat and very positive about the concert and had a good time”.
But Parker never returned home. They were seen on CCTV after leaving Heaven, near Charing Cross, before they started moving south towards Embankment. Footage from the early hours of 17 December suggested they may have “entered the water”.
According to the Metropolitan Police, police were contacted by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) at 11.51 am on Tuesday 4 January, reporting that a body had been found in Thames near Embankment.
The Met’s Marine Support Unit recovered the body and the death is currently being treated as unexplained.
Detective chief inspector Lucy O’Connor, of the Central South Command Unit, said: “Sadly a body has been recovered from the Thames near where Harvey was last seen. We are providing Harvey’s family with all the available information.
“We are also asking for media to please respect the family’s privacy at this challenging and difficult time.”