Merseyside Police have confirmed that a body found in woods near Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral is that of John Ankers, who had been missing since Sunday.
Earlier this week, we reported how frantic friends of family were appealing for 28-year-old Mr Ankers to come back safely to his home in Woodchurch, after he failed to turn up at the Blockbuster store where he worked on Sunday morning.
His wife Katrina, who married John in September 2012 after an eight-year relationship, had said her husband’s disappearance was completely out of character.
She told the Liverpool Echo: “He was told last week that he would lose his job and has been down about that. When I last saw him, he was leaving my mum’s house to get the bus to work. He was a bit stressed because he was running late, but he was OK.”
A police spokesman said: “Merseyside Police can confirm that the body found in woodland near to Arrowe Park Hospital yesterday morning (Wednesday 23 January) is that of missing person John Ankers. A post mortem will take place to establish the cause of death. A file is being prepared to pass to the coroner.”
Many people took to Twitter to pay tribute to Ankers as news of his death spread, including Laura Ann Parker who tweeted: “Absolutely devastated about my friend #JohnAnkers. The best mate I had in my late teens/20s. In true Formby flat style ‘night Jonboy’ :-( xx”
Additional reporting by Catherine Cunningham