The body of a sea cadet missing since the early hours of Boxing Day morning has been discovered in a loch close to his home on the Hebridean island of South Uist.

Family friends confirmed last night that the dead man found in Loch Bee was Simon MacMillan, 21, whose disappearance after a night out prompted an intensive search of the island, its inshore waters and the loch where the body was found.

Peter Carlin, a local councillor and a family friend said there was no doubt about identification.

“This is the moment we had been dreading, but in a sense there is some relief. It is a terrible find, but it would been worse if no body had been found. There would have been no feeling of closure for his parents so in a sense this is a blessing. Simon's family can now start the grieving process properly and bury their son,” said Mr Carlin.

“Simon was a delightful young man, a credit to his family and the island. He was a piper of some renown, a popular lad. He will be very sadly missed.”

Mr MacMillan disappeared after travelling back in a minibus from a Christmas dance in Daliburgh in the south of the island. It is believed he set off by himself on a walk home after being dropped off with a friend in the Linique area of the Iochdar township. It is understood that his body was found on the western shore of Loch Bee, two miles from his family home at Ardmore, and a mile from the place he was last seen.

In the days and weeks following his disappearance, the scattered communities of South Uist had united in attempts to find him, with as many as 300 people involved in the search, including residents from the neighbouring islands of Benbecula, North Uist and Eriskay. Some took to canoes and inflatable boats to scour the lochs, while quad bikes and 4x4 vehicles covered rough ground.

In January, Northern Constabulary brought in a specialist underwater police search team to assist with the search. Police divers from Strathclyde spent three days combing lochs, including Loch Bee, the largest in South Uist. These efforts were bolstered by the assistance of commercial and amateur divers and by search and rescue helicopters, some equipped with infra-red cameras. Local police also recruited Mark Harrison, the national search adviser to the National Policing Improvement Agency, who had previously worked with West Midlands police following the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

In February, however, a decision by Northern Constabulary to abandon the formal search was greeted with “anger and dismay” by locals, who continued with their own efforts, led by Angus MacMillan, the missing man's father. Angus MacMillan and his wife, Elizabeth, were travelling back to South Uist yesterday, after leaving the island at the weekend for the first time since their son's disappearance.

A spokesman for Northern Constabulary said: “We are currently waiting for formal identification, but it is a body of a male person and Mr and Mrs MacMillan have been informed.”

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