Inquiry into PSNI river body search

The Police Ombudsman is to investigate why a man's body lay undiscovered in his submerged car a week after police first received reports of a vehicle entering a river.

The body of 48-year-old Paul Gordon from Draperstown, Co Derry was recovered from his Red Alpha Romeo in the Moyola River at the weekend.

Police had received a report of tyre tracks leading into the water off the Derrynoid Road on the previous Saturday, December 8th.

However, officers responding to that call found "no evidence that a vehicle had entered the water", according to a PSNI spokesman.

The sunken car was spotted by a member of the public on Saturday. It was apparently around 250 yards downstream of where the tyre tracks were first reported.

The Ombudsman's office has confirmed that an inquiry is to be carried out as to why the car wasn't located following the initial report.

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