The sister of a 23-year-old has shared a heartfelt tribute to him after his body was found.
Haydn Griffiths, from Lowton in Wigan, went missing after swimming in the River Mersey towards wind turbines off the coast of New Brighton, Wirral, at about 10.30pm last Tuesday, when the country saw record temperatures. Police said that on Sunday, a body was found at the Pier Head in Liverpool.
Haydn's family has now confirmed that the body found by police was him, the Liverpool Echo reports. The death is being treated as 'unexplained' at this stage, police said.
READ MORE: Body found in search for Haydn Griffiths last seen swimming in River Mersey
Haydn's big sister Megan Griffiths posted a heartfelt message on Instagram after the tragic news was revealed. She shared a photograph of the pair together and wrote 'I love you brother'.
She added: "Thank you all so so much for your love , support, positivity, hope and determination. Haydn's body has revealed itself. I prefer to think of it as the shell where his soul once lived. He was found last night by Pier Head in Liverpool.
"Police statement has been released. We cannot thank the RNLI, coastguard, police and incredible community enough for their support and determination."
Haydn went swimming with a friend in an attempt to reach to the wind turbines near Derby Pool, when he disappeared in the water and didn't resurface. A huge search was launched by the Coastguard and lifeboat volunteers along with police and the fire service, but was called off at around 5pm on Wednesday, July 20 after 18 hours.
Haydn's family and the local community then rallied together to search the coast for Haydn. It was reported that more than 100 people joined the search party last week and continued to look over the weekend.
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