Police investigating the murder of County Down man Pat McCormick have recovered a body in the Ballygowan area.

Specialist teams have been carrying out land and water-based searches for the 55-year-old’s remains at a number of lakes in the area in recent days.

The father-of-four was last seen in the town of Comber near Newtownards on May 30th.

Detectives believe he was killed shortly after going under an archway leading off Castle Street towards an apartment complex.

PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Pete Montgomery said: “I can confirm that a man’s body has been found in the Ballygowan area.

“I am unable to confirm the identity of the man until a formal identification process has taken place. A post mortem is also being conducted.”

Police yesterday released CCTV footage of a blue Ford Transit van with the registration number JLZ1672 and appealed to the public for information on its movements.

Separately Crimestoppers offered a €10,000 reward for anybody who could assist in locating him.

Announcing yesterday’s reward, Chief Inspector Montgomery said Mr McCormick’s Family are “completely heartbroken and devastated and they need to get some closure.”

“Pat’s family deserve to have his body back and give him a proper funeral – they deserve to be able to say goodbye and lay him to rest,” he said.