BREAKING NEWS Body found in hunt for missing 19-year-old who disappeared nearly a month ago after police scour 2,000 hours of CCTV and speak to 400 people
The body of a man has been found in a hunt for a missing 19-year-old who disappeared nearly a month ago after a house party.
Police scoured 2,000 hours of CCTV and spoke to 400 people as part of the investigation and confirmed the discovery this evening.
The corpse was sighted in a wooded area near Kilsyth Road in Scotland at around 4.15pm.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'Formal identification has yet to take place however the family of missing man Cole Cooper, 19, has been informed.
'Enquiries remain ongoing to establish the full circumstances.'
Cole Cooper was reported missing on May 9 prompting a major search operation involving helicopters, divers and financial investigators.
He was last seen by his family on May 2 or 3 and was captured on CCTV at about 6am on May 4 in Longcroft, Falkirk, as he tried to access his father's house unsuccessfully.
The final sighting of Mr Cooper was at 8.45pm on May 7, on the A803 at the intersection with Cumbernauld Road, Longcroft, when he asked a school friend for a lift - which was not given.
Since then, almost 400 residents have been spoken to during door-to-door inquiries and more than 2,000 hours of CCTV seized, according to Police Scotland.
The missing man is described as about 5ft 10ins, of medium build with brown short hair, and was last seen wearing a black puffer-style jacket with black jogging bottoms.
His disappearance has been described as 'completely out of character' and Mr Cooper's family are said to be devastated.
A portal has been set up for the public to share footage, images and possible lines of inquiry, with detectives saying they have received 'numerous' submissions.
Officers previously reported the investigation was being treated as a missing person's inquiry rather than a criminal probe.
On May 28, detectives said the examination of more than 1,000 hours of CCTV had taken place along with door-to-door inquiries at more than 220 homes.
Around a week later, the hours of CCTV examined had increased to more than 2,000.
Chief Inspector Alex Hatrick, the local area commander, said: 'Our priority remains tracing Cole and getting answers for his family on his whereabouts.
'We have a dedicated team, including specialist officers and national resources, following all lines of inquiry.
'Specialist search teams as well as the air support and dive and marine units have been searching Longcroft and the surrounding area.
'I would like to thank the public for the support they've shown for this investigation and all the information provided to police. It shows the community is as committed to finding Cole as we are.'
In a heartfelt plea last week, Mr Cooper's mother Wendy Stewart begged her son to 'come home'.
She said: 'I love and miss you so so so much. Where are you son? My heart is breaking I just want a big cuddle from you son.'
The worried mother also posted a touching video of Mr Cooper singing into a microphone and dancing with her, with the caption 'Please help get my gorgeous, kind loving boy back to me'.
Officers will be revisiting the locations where Mr Cooper was last spotted around the same time on June 8 and June 11 in an effort to trace anyone who may have seen him but has yet to speak to police.
Mr Hatrick added: 'Officers will be revisiting the Glasgow Road and Cumbernauld Road areas around the same time as the last sightings to ensure we've spoken to as many people as possible who may have information which could help.
'I continue to urge anyone with information on Mr Cooper's movements or whereabouts to come forward.
'No matter how significant you believe that information is, it could prove vital.'
Anyone who has information has been asked to contact 101 quoting incident number 828 of May 9.
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