Laurence Dollimore
THE body of a missing Brit has been discovered in a bell tower in Spain.
Steven Michael B, 48, disappeared from the small town of Las Salas, in the northern province of Leon on July 11.
A rescue operation was launched by Spanish authorities, who spent days scouring the mountainside and nearby river beds.
However it today emerged that a body was found in the bell tower of the local church in Las Salas on Sunday.
According to Diario de Leon, it was a local resident who found the lifeless body on the steps of the tower, having been ‘alerted by a strong smell.’
It is believed the corpse had been lying in the spot for several days and all signs indicate that he took his own life, reports Telecinco.
The mayor said the quiet town is ‘shocked’ by the news.
Reports previously claimed Steven left his wife in a garage after an argument, dumping several personal belongings including climbing equipment and documentation before abandoning his car.
He was last seen on Thursday, July 11 in Las Salas, a mountainous village in Cremenes, Leon, where he had been on a mountaineering holiday with his wife, a fellow avid climber.
The search, which involved sniffer dogs and a helicopter, had focused on the banks of the Elsa River and nearby mountainous terrain.
