The family of a young man who went missing nine months ago have been informed following the discovery of a body in the Ardeer area of Stevenston, Ayrshire.
Jamie Cannon, then 19, left his home in Saltcoats to head to college on May 20 last year.
He was last seen at Auchenharvie Golf Course, Stevenston, at around 10.40am that morning.
Despite police searches and appeals from his family, Jamie has never been found.
On Saturday evening police said the body of the man, who has yet to be identified, was found that afternoon.
On Sunday, police confirmed Jamie’s family had been told about the grim find.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said : “Around 4.30pm on Saturday, February 26 we received a call that a body had been discovered in the Ardeer area of Stevenston.
"Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances and identity.
"The family of missing man Jamie Cannon have been informed.”
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CCTV captured Jamie walking through Kerr Avenue in the town at around 10.26am last May 20 before he was seen at the golf course.
But despite extensive searches from police, volunteers and Jamie’s family and friends, no trace of him has been found.
Jamie’s bank account has not been used and his mobile phone is switched off.
In December his mum Lynn Cannon said she felt “broken” on the first Christmas without her son.
She also told how she is still holding out hope that Jamie is alive.
She said: “I feel like Jamie is out there alive somewhere. My gut feeling, or ‘mother’s instinct’, whatever you want to call it, is telling me he is alive and has just taken himself away for a while.
“It might sound daft but it’s a feeling I have.”
In the days before Christmas, the mum-of-three made an appeal begging her son to “please come home for Christmas”.
Last month his family marked Jamie’s 20th birthday without him.
Lynn issued a social media tribute for her son. She wrote: “Happy 20th birthday son I miss and love you so much I just wish you would come home you should be here celebrating with your family xx."