MARLOES SANDS: Body found in search for boy, 15, who got into difficulty in the sea

A body has been found in the search for a 15-year-old boy who got into difficulty in the sea at Marloes Sands at the end of August, Dyfed-Powys Police has confirmed.

“Next of kin have been informed, and our thoughts are with them at this time,” the force said in a statement on Wednesday morning.

The teenager, who police have said was visiting on holiday from the Yorkshire area, was one of three people reported to be in difficulty in the water at the beach on Sunday 30 August.

Two of the three got themselves safely back to shore. The boy did not.

A major air, sea and land search was launched within minutes of the first 999 calls, with RNLI lifeboats from Angle, Tenby and St Davids alongside HM Coastguard and Dyfed-Powys Police.

By that Sunday evening the operation included coastguard rescue teams from Dale, Broad Haven, St Davids and Llansteffan, a coastguard helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft, police marine officers and the Welsh Ambulance Service, with Milford Haven port pilot vessels and passing boats joining in.

The search resumed at first light on the Monday, stretching along the coast from St Ann’s Head to Broad Haven North and taking in the waters around Skomer and Skokholm.

It was suspended at 7.30pm that evening with nothing found. Angle RNLI’s volunteer crew alone had spent 22 hours at sea.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said at the time that despite an extensive search there had been no sign of the missing boy, and that the operation would not resume unless new information came in.

Angle RNLI said its thoughts were “with the swimmer’s family and friends at this difficult time”.

The force’s statement did not say where or when the body was found, and formal identification has not been confirmed.

Marloes Sands, on the Dale peninsula, is a remote National Trust beach with no lifeguard cover, around a 15-minute walk from its car park.