A man's body found in Jacksonville, Florida, has been identified as missing Northern Ireland man John McNamee.
John's family confirmed the news to Belfast Live on Wednesday, after human remains were found on Saturday close to where John was last seen near Jacksonville Airport in May. The family of the 47-year-old from Pomeroy in Co Tyrone had travelled to the US to search for him
John's uncle, also called John, and sister Caroline said the family were 'truly grateful' to those who helped to search for John, and said the family were devastated by his loss.
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"We are truly grateful to those who all helped in finding John and enabling us to bring him home," the family said.
"We will never have enough words to describe how grateful we are. As a family we are truly devastated on the passing of our beloved John and we ask for privacy and space at this time to allow us to grieve.
"John was a hard working man for his two kids and his family they are going to miss him so much. This is a major loss to our family that was very close to him.
"Our hearts go out to all the families that are searching for missing people, and many of those that joined the search for John were people like that.
"The private search groups that helped us were volunteers that came from several areas and we are just so grateful to have had their support at this time.
"Thank you to our local MP Michelle Gildernew and MLA Linda Dillon for their assistance, as well as the Irish embassy.
"Thank you to Jacksonville Sheriff's office for all their help and assistance during these difficult weeks and to everyone who assisted us by sharing information, posting flyers and helped in any way."
John's death is still being treated as an "undetermined death" by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, with no indication as yet as to what may have happened to him.
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