Gboyega Odubanjo: UK police find body in search for missing poet

Poet Gboyega Odubanjo

Northamptonshire Police on Thursday said they have found a body in the search for poet Gboyega Odubanjo who went missing over the weekend.

The 27-year-old was scheduled for a reading at the Shambala festival in Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire on Sunday but never showed up for his performance.

He was last seen at the festival at about 4 a.m. on Saturday.

The police said: “A body has sadly been found during the search for a 27-year-old man reported missing in Kelmarsh. Police officers made the discovery shortly before 9 a.m. on Thursday, August 31, in the course of a specialised search of the area.

“The man had been reported missing on Sunday, August 27, having last been seen at Shambala festival early the previous morning. While formal identification has yet to take place, the man’s family has been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers. There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.”

READ ALSO:

Missing comedian Ijoba Lande found alive

Missing Benue State University student’s body found

Mr Odubanjo’s family had appealed for help in looking for the 27-year-old, describing him as one with a “warm and infectious personality.”

Also appealing for help, his best friend, novelist and filmmaker Tice Cin said: “He is the light of my life. We need help bringing him home, nobody deserves to go missing in a society with all the resources to find our loved ones.

“Help us to find this brilliant kind man, the type of man who you can ring at 3am when your back is hurting and you can’t sleep. His future is so bright and we must rally together to bring him back to where he is loved and safe.”

Odubanjo was a PhD student in creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire.