Gareth Jones: Police find body near Seaford

Father-of-three Gareth Jones, 69, was reported missing on Saturday afternoon after failing to return home from a walk with his brown cockapoo, Connie.

A huge search was launched before being scaled down on Sunday when police viewed CCTV which appeared to show the pair being swept out to sea.

Sussex Police today recovered a body from near the water’s edge at Tide Mills.    

Officers were alerted to the body on the beach near Seaford at 8.56am.

Police believe the body to be that of Gareth, from Hove, and his family have been made aware.

Gareth Jones from Hove

There are no suspicious circumstances and the coroner’s office has been informed.

Gareth’s dog was found dead on the beach in Brighton yesterday.

The Brighton and Hove community has been rocked by the loss of Gareth, who has been described as a much-loved “friend and mentor”.

READ MORE: Tributes pour in for Hove man Gareth Jones

He was a stalwart of both his favourite pub and the political scene as well as being a fervent supporter of local businesses.

His family said: "Gareth was a much loved Husband, Father, Brother, Grandfather, Uncle and Friend.

"His kindness, intelligence, irreverent sense of humour, love of life and passion for politics touched so many people. Tragically he passed away in an accident, taken by the sea trying to rescue his beloved Cockapoo, Connie. 

"He lived an extraordinary life filled with love, laughter, football and fun whilst also enjoying immense academic and professional success.

"The outpouring of love and grief for him has been astounding and we wanted to create a place where everyone could go to share memories of a life wonderfully and fully lived."

His son, Robbie Jones, issued a heartfelt thank you on behalf of the family to the hundreds of people who helped scour the Brighton and Hove shoreline for Gareth.

The 24-year-old also remembered his dad as a strong and sociable character who "had time for everyone".

He said: "He was incredibly sociable and loved visiting pubs - he would call it 'social research'.

"And he always had time for people. He was so non-judgemental, he had time for everyone.

Gareth Jones' brown cockapoo Connie

"The Watchmaker's Arms was his local and he was very into his real ales. 

"He absolutely loved that place - called it his second home. He would sometimes come home and cook dinner, then head back over there.

"When we were searching over the weekend we came across people we didn't even know who would tell us, 'I know your dad'.

"And people from the Watchmaker's also came out in force."

Gareth was born in Cardiff and grew up in the Welsh capital before making his way east.

He was a self-employed management consultant, but had previously worked as a lecturer at universities in several countries as well as being the head of HR at the BBC.