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Editor’s tribute to missing reporter after body found

An editor has paid tribute to his “very talented and experienced reporter” after the discovery of a body which is believed to be him.

Clive Dennier worked for the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald but was reported missing when he failed to go into work on 25 March, and it was thought he had gone walking in the Scottish Highlands.

Police say that a body of a man, believed to be Clive, was discovered by a member of the public in the Kinloch Hourn area, which is on the Knoydart Peninsula, and was recovered on Friday evening.

His editor, Gavin Musgrove, has paid tribute to him in an article, saying his disappearance had “left a massive hole in their lives”.

He said: “Our thoughts are with Clive’s family and his many good friends at this difficult time. He was just the most fantastic and lovable person.

“We have not only lost a very talented and experienced reporter but also our best friend.

“His disappearance left a massive hole in our lives and not a single day goes by without us thinking about him but at least the recovery of his body will bring some closure and there will be a chance to say farewell to him.”

The formal identification of his body has not yet taken place but it is understood that possessions found with the body indicate it is Clive.

The 50-year-old was a former chief reporter in the Inverness office of the Press and Journal who had worked for the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald for around two years when he disappeared.

He was born in the Liverpool area and studied journalism in Preston before working at newspapers including the Eastern Daily Press, the Gulf Daily News in Bahrain and other titles in the Welsh Valleys and Oxfordshire. Clive moved to the Highlands around 20 years ago.

His older sister, Judy Needham, who lives in Oxfordshire, told Aberdeen’s Press and Journal that she was glad he had been found and she took some comfort from knowing that he died doing something he loved.

She told the paper: “It seems he must have fallen while crossing a river and had been washed downstream. It was obviously a shock to hear that he’d been found, but he loved the Highlands and hillwalking was his hobby so I know that spiritually he was in a place he would want to be, doing something he loved.

“It was beginning to get really frustrating not knowing anything. Sometimes I thought there may be a slight hope that he could be found alive, but I knew he wouldn’t really.

“If he’d been alive, he would have called us. It wouldn’t have been like him to have left us all worrying. I’m just glad he’s been found.”

Judy added: “Clive had such a great personality, he was very sociable and had so many friends from all walks of life.

“He was always nice to people, always listened to people and always up for trying something new or going somewhere new. He was irrepressible – always looking for the fun in any situation – and very supportive to his family and friends.”

Clive also leaves two other sisters, Alison and Gill, who still live near Liverpool with their parents.

Close friend Eilidh Davies, a former colleague of Clive at the Press and Journal, said: “I’m glad he’s been found as it gives his family closure, but it’s also very sad as it confirms our worst fears.

“Clive was a very good friend to me and countless others. It just feels like a big, bright light has gone out.”

A statement from the police said: “Police Scotland can confirm that following information received from a member of the public, the body of a man was recovered from the area of Kinloch Hourn during the evening of Friday 31 May 2013.

“The family of missing man Clive Dennier have been informed of this development. Arrangements are being made for a formal identification.”

Clive was based at the Herald’s Kingussie office and he was reported missing by worried work colleagues when he failed to turn up to work at the Grantown office, where he was covering holiday leave for Gavin.

Four days after Clive was reported missing, his Volkswagen Polo was found in the remote Knoydart area west of Invergarry, resulting in organised searches of the area by police, mountain rescue teams, the coastguard and the Skywatch charity.