Police searching for a Colchester student who ran out of Broomfield Hospital earlier this morning have found a body nearby.

Paulo Junior initially arrived at Stansted Airport at approximately 11pm on Wednesday after travelling from his halls of residence near the Colchester campus of the University of Essex.

He was found in a mentally unstable condition which caused police concern. As a result, paramedics took him to the hospital in mid-Essex. However, the 34-year-old man ran off from hospital staff at 2am this morning.

A search of the hospital grounds and surrounding area began, with the police helicopter also deployed at 2.30am to help officers on the ground.

Shortly before 8.30am the body of a man was found less than a mile away in the grounds of a residential property. Officers at the scene believe this to be Paulo Junior and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death which is not being treated as suspicious.

Although the body is believed to be that of Paulo’s it will still be the subject of a formal identification procedure. A post-mortem examination will take place in due course to ascertain a cause of death.