BBC 'Mole' found dead?
OO-EE-OO.
This is too freaky to be anything other than a tragic accident, surely. Isn't it???
"Body 'matches' Iraq expert
Mr Kelly arriving to give evidence to MPs this week
Police searching for the weapons expert suggested as the possible source for a BBC story on Iraq say the body they have found matches Dr David Kelly's appearance.
The government says an independent judicial inquiry will be held into the circumstances of his death if the body is confirmed to be that of Dr Kelly.
The body was found at 0920 BST by a member of the police team searching for Dr Kelly in a wooded area at Harrowdown Hill, near Faringdon, Oxfordshire.
Government adviser Dr Kelly, 59, has denied being the source of a BBC story on claims that a dossier on Iraq was "sexed up".
He left his home in Southmoor, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, at about 1500 BST on Thursday and his family reported him missing at 2345 BST the same day.
The body was found lying on the ground, around five miles from Dr Kelly's home, a police spokeswoman said.
Acting superintendent Dave Purnell said formal identification would take place on Saturday, said Supt Purnell, and the case was being treated as an "unexplained death".
"We will be awaiting the results of the post mortem and also waiting while the forensic examination continues at the scene at Harrowdown Hill," he added.
The government announcement of an inquiry if the body is Dr Kelly's came from the prime minister's plane as he flew for a visit to Tokyo.
Mr Blair's spokesman said: "The prime minister is obviously very distressed for the family.
"If it is Dr Kelly's body, the Ministry of Defence will hold an independent judicial inquiry into the circumstances leading up to his death."
Robert Jackson, the Conservative MP in whose constituency Dr Kelly lived, said the "responsibility of the BBC should not go unmentioned" in the case.
"The pressure was significantly increased by the fact the BBC refused to make it clear he was not the source," he said.
A BBC spokesman said: "We are shocked and saddened to hear what has happened and we extend our deepest sympathies to Dr Kelly's family and friends.
"Whilst Dr Kelly's family await the formal identification, it would not be appropriate for us to make any further statement."
Earlier this week, Dr Kelly denied being the BBC's main source for the story claiming Downing Street had "sexed up" the dossier about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
MPs on the Commons foreign affairs committee, which questioned Dr Kelly earlier this week, reacted with shock and disbelief at news of his disappearance.
Huge media attention has been on Dr Kelly since the Ministry of Defence said he had come forward to admit meeting Andrew Gilligan, the BBC correspondent behind the controversial Iraq story.
Mr Gilligan said a source had told him that the dossier on Iraq had been "transformed" by Downing Street.
The BBC correspondent has refused to name his source, but the MoD said Dr Kelly had come forward to say it may have been him.
Government ministers have said they believe he was the source for Mr Gilligan's story.
Supt Purnell said a police family liaison officer is with Dr Kelly's family. The official and wife Janice have three daughters, Sian, 32, and twins Rachel and Ellen, 30.
Ann Lewis, a neighbour of Dr Kelly, told BBC News Online she was "devastated" for his family, especially his children.
He is not used to the media glare, he is not used to the intense spotlight he has been put under
She said: "He was a quiet man. He was a man who showed great care and concern for others."
Craig Foster, 36, landlord of the Blue Boar public house in nearby Longworth, said Dr Kelly was "a very well liked gentleman".
Police say Dr Kelly is an avid walker and has good local knowledge of the many footpaths surrounding his home.
A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: "We are aware that Dr David Kelly has gone missing and we are obviously concerned."
The ministry said Dr Kelly had at no point been threatened with suspension or dismissal for speaking to Mr Gilligan.
It was made clear to him that he had broken civil service rules by having unauthorised contact with a journalist, but "that was the end of it", said a spokesman.
Downing Street says "normal personnel procedures" were followed after Dr Kelly volunteered that he might have been the source of Mr Gilligan's report.
It was made clear to Dr Kelly that his name was likely to become public knowledge because he was one of only a small number of people it could have been about, a spokesman said.
After questioning Dr Kelly earlier this week, the Commons foreign affairs select committee said it was "most unlikely" he was the main source for the BBC story.
And they said Dr Kelly, who has worked as a weapons inspector in Iraq, had been "poorly treated" by the government - a charge strongly rejected by the MoD.
" There must be more to this than we had thought. I do not know what that means, I just think there is"
John Maples
Foreign affairs committee.
Committee chairman Donald Anderson told the BBC his "heart went out" to Dr Kelly's family as the search for the official went on.
Another member of the committee, Tory John Maples said he was "speechless" after hearing of the discovery of a body.
"If it is (Dr Kelly), it is just awful. What can you say? Nothing," he said.
"There must be more to this than we had thought. I do not know what that means, I just think there is."
Tory MP Richard Ottaway, another committee member, said: "He is not used to the media glare, he is not used to the intense spotlight he has been put under."
The BBC has rejected Mr Anderson's claim that Mr Gilligan was an "unreliable witness" who had changed his story about the Iraq dossier claims when he met the committee in private on Thursday. "
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3076801.stm>
It was saying on the news earlier that he went for a walk regully before dinner and came back in time for tea thats what raised the alarm for his wife, there were only a few walks he could have done in the time in the local area, hence the fact that the police didn't take long to find him, he was in one of the first places they'd have looked.
