The body of a man thought to be 64-year-old missing Budleigh Christmas day swimmer Matthew Upham has been discovered on Exmouth beach.
The emergency services on Sunday afternoon (January 25) cordoned off areas of Exmouth beach around Orcombe Point and Sandy Bay after a report of a washed-up body on the shore.
Police confirmed a man’s body was recovered and have notified Mr Upham’s family.
Matthew Upham, pictured here in 2023, went missing after taking part in the Budleigh Christmas Day swim.
Image: Instagram.
A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson said: “Emergency services were called shortly before 3pm on Sunday 25 January to Exmouth Beach following a report of a possible body seen near the shore.
“The body of a man has since been recovered.
“Formal identification is yet to take place but the family of a 64-year-old man from Budleigh Salterton have been informed of this development.”
Some five days earlier (January 20), the emergency services were called to the beach at Sandy Bay, Exmouth, for a man found dead on the shore.
Police believe he was a 47-year-old swimmer – also last seen at the tragedy-hit Christmas Day swim off Budleigh – lost at sea for almost a month.
Budleigh’s annual festive dip ended abruptly when swimmers, caught out by powerful waves amid strong easterly winds, struggled to get out of the sea.
The crowd on Budleigh beach ahead of the Christmas Day swim, where two men in the water went missing amid ‘terrifying’ conditions.
Photo: Fran McElhone.
Festive swimmers were plucked from the water, with several needing medical care on the beach, or hospital treatment, after strong easterly winds and powerful waves dragged them out to sea.
Some regular sea swimmers described the waters at Budleigh that day as the ‘worst conditions’ and the ‘most terrifying and dangerous’ they had seen.
‘Accomplished sea swimmer’ Matthew Upham, who reportedly spent hours in the water, is believed to have almost reached the beach but was hit and dragged under by wave as he turned back to help a woman struggling to reach the shore.
Matthew Upham, pictured here in happier times in 2023.
Image: Instagram
It was thought the unnamed 47-year-old man had been pulled out to sea attempting to help Mr Upham when he was ‘dragged down the beach’.
They were not be found despite a large-scale sea and shoreline search by the emergency services, which was called off by nightfall.
Flowers and handwritten tributes were left for the two missing swimmers.
Photo: EDN.
In the hours after the two swimmers were lost at sea, floral tributes were laid on Budleigh seafront, on the doorstep of Mr Upham’s High Street shop, and overlooking the beach at Steamer Steps.
Members of the public left floral tributes after Matthew Upham, and another swimmer, were declared missing at sea after the Budeigh Christmas Day swim.
Photo: Irving of Exeter.
Tribute blooms left on the doorstep of Matthew Upham’s antiques business in Budleigh High Street.
Photo: EDN.
Mr Upham’s ‘heartbroken’ family led tributes to the ‘deeply loved’ 64-year-old businessman, which were echoed by friend, singer-song writer Kate Bush, and former boyfriend, TV presenter and journalist Scott Wimsett.
