Man’s Body Discovered Weeks After Dad of 2 Disappeared While Swimming at Beach

A swimmer discovered a body on the eastern coast of England more than three weeks after Matt McDavid, a father of two, went missing.

On Thursday, Aug. 21, at about 5:30 p.m. local time, the body was found at Tunstall Beach in Holderness, East Yorkshire, according to BBC and The Gazette and Herald.

Although formal identification has not yet taken place, police believe the case is “linked to reports of a concern for safety at Thornwick Bay in Flamborough,” the area where McDavid was last seen swimming on July 30, the outlets reported.

“A post-mortem examination will take place in the coming days; however, at this time, the circumstances are not thought to be suspicious,” a spokesperson for Humberside Police told the Herald.

U.K. officials have been contacted by PEOPLE for further comment.

The discovery comes two weeks after McDavid’s partner, Michelle Sigsworth, told the BBC she had been “living in a nightmare” since his disappearance.

McDavid, 42, had entered the water at Thornwick Bay in the North Sea when Sigsworth said she “lost sight” of him. The American-born father, who grew up near the ocean, had been swimming toward a cave the couple had recently learned about while kayaking.

“As I was videoing, I was thinking the waves are getting stronger,” Sigsworth told the BBC. “We just couldn’t visualize him in the ocean at all, it was like the current must have taken him.”

Rescue teams were called immediately after she raised the alarm, but strong weather conditions made the search difficult.

On Aug. 1, the Bridlington Coastguard Rescue Team announced that, after an extensive search by land, air, and sea, the swimmer could not be located. “As of Thursday afternoon (31 July), all search operations have been stood down,” the team said.

“Our teams always strive to search, rescue, and to save. Sadly, despite extensive efforts, the swimmer has not been found,” Jordan Grebby, station officer at the Bridlington Coastguard Rescue Team, added at the time. “Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones at this very difficult time.”

The BBC later reported that Humberside Police divers continued searching after official operations were scaled back.

In a separate interview with the Daily Express, Sigsworth described McDavid as a devoted father to their two daughters, Sophia Rose, 11, and Amelia, 9.

“He is a brilliant guy who would do anything for the kids. He is absolutely amazing with the girls,” she said. “He is a brilliant dad, even with my eldest daughter, and he treats her like his own. Everything they needed, he would give, and he worked so hard for them.”