Missing Garry Foster 'found dead after gun suicide'
A body believed to be that of Garry Foster, a suspected sex offender who went missing with a shotgun, has been found.
The 53-year-old is thought to have committed suicide with the weapon.
Seventy-five police officers, some of whom were armed, were searching for him after he vanished from his home in The Priory, Dudley, on Sunday.
Police believed he may have been using self-taught survival skills to lay low in remote countryside and said he may have had a 12-bore pump-action shotgun with him.
A body was found in an area of Claines, South Worcestershire, just off Hawford Lock Lane just after 2.15pm yesterday following a call from a member of the public.
Police had been searching countryside to the west of Wolverhampton, towards Bridgnorth and Kidderminster.
It is thought these are places he would often frequent spending weekends or several days in remote locations living off the land and using firearms to shoot vermin and wildlife.
Officers liaised with with the farming community, walkers and hikers in a bid to locate him.
Police said he had gone missing shortly after the sex offence allegations had surfaced. A roadside camera had picked up images of his blue-silver Mitsubishi Pajero in Worcestershire at 3.26pm on Sunday but there had been no further sightings.
Supt Andy Parsons thanked media and members of the public who had called police with information: "Our aim was always to find Mr Foster.
"Unfortunately our searches appear to have come to a tragic end.
"We continue to support the family with specially trained officers," he added.
Earlier this week police said they had grown increasingly concerned about Mr Foster's welfare, saying he left his house in a 'stressed, emotional state'. He had connections in Shropshire, Herefordshire and Staffordshire and was a registered firearms licence holder.
Police widened their search for him earlier this week.
They brought in air support from the force helicopter to help in the hunt for Mr Foster.
Villages and remote areas of South Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire became the focus for the search. Residents living in Seisdon, near Wolverhampton, said officers had been searching nearby on Wednesday.
