The family of a scuba diver who went missing while diving near Falmouth, Cornwall in September have paid tribute to him after his body was found and identified almost three months after he disappeared.
76-year-old Andrew McKnight from St Austell was diving at St Anthony Head at the northern end of Falmouth Bay on the morning of Sunday, 22 September when he failed to surface from a dive.
A multi-agency search and rescue operation was launched involving the Devon & Cornwall Police, HM Coastguard and the RNLI, but was later called off after Mr McKnight could not be located.
His body was found on Sunday 8 December on Portholland Beach, approximately 12 miles (19km) northeast along the Cornish coast from where he went missing.
A member of Mr McKnight’s family paid tribute to the diver in a statement issued by Devon and Cornwall Police: ‘Andy was a highly qualified diver and dive instructor and his death has come as a great shock to all who knew him.
‘He was a much-loved husband, father and grandfather and he will be deeply missed by all his family.Â
‘We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the southwest diving community, Devon & Cornwall Police, the RNLI, the Coastguard and all others who gave their time to search for him for the past 11 weeks.Â
‘As a family we ask for privacy at this difficult time as we come to terms with our loss.’
