Man Who Disappeared on Venice Trip Found Dead

The body of a 23-year-old man who disappeared in Venice during a Valentine's trip with his girlfriend has been found underneath a bridge connecting Venice lagoon to the mainland, the Foreign Office said yesterday.

Richard Raynor vanished in the early hours of last Thursday. He left a message on his girlfriend's mobile phone to say he was lost. Later, his wallet, keys and mobile phone were found near their hotel on the mainland, six miles away. "Who put them there, and why, we have no idea," his father, William Raynor, told the Guardian.

A Foreign Office spokesman said last night: "We can confirm that sadly, the body found in Venice is that of the missing British national."

Earlier, an Italian police spokesman, Alessandro Guiliano said there were no indications that Raynor's death had been violent, although he said they were "not ruling out any hypothesis".

It is understood that William Raynor, who flew to Venice on Saturday to search for his son, formally identified the body. His son had flown to Italy on Wednesday with his girlfriend, Katie Robinson, 22, a forensic science student, to celebrate the first anniversary of their relationship. They went to a hotel at Mestre, on the mainland, and then to dinner in Venice in the area of Campo Santa Margherita.

William Raynor, a marine consultant from Doncaster, said he had been told by Robinson that the couple had just missed a bus for the return journey. An argument broke out over whether they should take a taxi, as Robinson wanted, or wait for half an hour in a bar for the next bus. Robinson went to find a cab. When she returned, her boyfriend was nowhere to be seen.

Robinson told the Times that her boyfriend, a software designer, had phoned her as she was traveling back to the hotel. "He rang me and asked me where I was. I told him I was in a taxi. He said, fine, he'd get one and meet me back at the hotel."

She returned to the hotel, but the next morning there was no trace of him except the voice mail message, left an hour after he was last seen. She tried repeatedly to call him, but there was no answer.

A couple found his possessions after hearing his mobile ring. Soon afterwards, Robinson went to the police. They, and her boyfriend's parents, advised her to go to the airport for the return flight. When he failed to appear, she returned to Britain.

Police said suicide appeared unlikely since according to friends and family he was "a normal guy who never showed any signs of depression."