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Body found in search for Hollie McClymont, missing in south Wales Body found in search for Hollie McClymont, missing in south Wales
(about 3 hours later)
Police investigating the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl who was last seen in difficulty swimming in the sea have recovered a body from the water near Fontygary, Vale of Glamorgan. Police investigating the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl who was last seen in difficulty in the sea have recovered a body.
Hollie Jamie-Lee McClymont, from Glasgow, a pupil at St Thomas Aquinas secondary school, has not been seen since she went swimming off Barry Island, south Wales, last Sunday. She had been on a family holiday. Hollie Jamie-Lee McClymont, from Glasgow, has not been seen since she went swimming off Barry Island in South Wales last Sunday. More than 40 specialist officers were deployed in the search for the missing teenager, as well as a helicopter and coastguards.
More than 40 specialist officers were deployed in the search for the missing teenager, as well as a helicopter crew and coastguards. Chief Inspector Marc Lamerton, of South Wales police, confirmed a body had been found in the sea near Fontygary – just a few miles from where Hollie was last seen alive.
Chief Inspector Marc Lamerton, of South Wales police, confirmed on Wednesday that a body had been found. The news was met with sadness by community leaders who described the development as "awful".
He said: "The body has not been formally identified. But the family of Hollie McClymont, who was reported missing on Sunday afternoon, have been informed of this development and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time." Lamerton said: "The body has not been formally identified. But the family of Hollie McClymont, who was reported missing on Sunday afternoon, have been informed of this development and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time."
The pupil of St Thomas Aquinas secondary school had gone to South Wales with her mother, Sarah, for a holiday. Police said the Scottish family chose Barry Island because they have relatives living in the area.
The teenager was last seen getting into difficulty at around 2.45pm on Sunday off the coast of Whitmore Bay which is a popular destination for sun-seekers.
But officers said emergency crews were not alerted to the incident until an hour after she was last seen, something coastguards said they were "dumbfounded by".
Once the alarm had been raised, life-savers sprang into action, calling on the skills and local knowledge of RNLI crews as well as deploying a helicopter in the area.
But 24 hours later, coastguards said they had exhausted their efforts to find Hollie and formally handed the investigation over to police.
News of the discovery of a body in the hunt for Hollie was described as a "nightmare scenario" .
Steffan Wiliam, a Barry resident and Plaid Cymru councillor at the Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: "This is awful, awful news - the nightmare scenario we have all been worrying about.
"If it is confirmed that it is the missing teenager, this is the most awful news we could have had.
"Our thoughts go out to the family at this awful time. The pain and grief they must be feeling now is terrible."
He said that, from the location where the police said the body was found, it appeared the teenager had gone outside the bay.
Fontygary is a small seaside village three miles (4.8km) south-west of Barry with a small stony beach and a holiday and leisure park nearby.
Currents outside the relative protection of Whitmore Bay will carry an object up or down the coastline and eventually out to sea.
"It seems that she will have been outside the bay and the currents will have just carried her away," Wiliam said.
"As soon as you are outside the bay, you will be carried off in one direction or another. Inside the bay there is a circular current.
"But this is just awful news for the family, the worst news they can have."
Scores of tributes have also been paid via social network sites such as Facebook.
One site user wrote: "This is so sad. The summer should have been a happy time for her and her family. RIP."
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