Body found in search for student who tried to walk home from club in freezing weather wearing T-shirt

A 20-year-old student is believed to have died after trying to walk home from a nightclub in sub-zero temperatures wearing only jeans and a T-shirt.

A body, believed to be that of Ian Tang, was found in woodland in Norfolk on Tuesday (12 December) after a search party involving hundreds of people.

Police say their investigation is ongoing, but that his death is not being treated as suspicious.

Tang, a student at City College Norwich, was last seen in the early hours of Sunday.

He tried to walk home alone from Club KA in his home town of North Walsham between 2.30am and 3am in temperatures of -2C.

The alarm was raised when he failed to arrive home.

He was said to be well-known and well-liked. About 200 people joined the search for him on Tuesday.

A body was found just over an hour after the search started in the village of Swafield, about two miles from North Walsham.

Ch Insp Wes Hornigold, of Norfolk Police, said he believed it was the body of Tang. Formal identification is yet to take place.

He said police were trying to piece together Tang's last movements.

"We have spoken to people he was with at the KA club in the town, which he left at about 2.30am on Sunday," he told the Eastern Daily Press.

"We have CCTV footage of Mr Tang there and of him in and around the town.

"We have a good understanding of his movements going to the club, when he left, and the direction he took.

"He somehow became separated from his friends and the last sighting of him was by a motorist on the B1145 at Pigney's Wood between 5.45am and 6am on Sunday. The driver said that Mr Tang was walking along the road.

"Enquiries are ongoing into why he was in the Swafield area at the time."

Hornigold said Tang belonged to a large family.

His Facebook page says he joined City College Norwich in September after previously attending North Walsham High School and Easton and Otley College, where he studied animal management.

On Facebook, Tang's father Robert said he was heartbroken. He wrote: "You were too full of life to be taken away from us so soon, it's still hard to believe.

"How much we'll miss your smile and laugh in our ears, your absence leaves a hole in us we're filling with our tears."

Several friends described Tang as a "lovely lad". One added: "I'm so sorry for your loss! He was absolutely amazing man! Who touched the hearts of everyone he met."