Body of missing US student found

The body of 22-year-old Austin Taylor Bice, the US exchange student who had been missing for 11 days, was found early Tuesday morning in Madrid's Manzanares river, police said.

An autopsy was due to be carried out on Wednesday, though no signs of foul play were initially reported. Among other theories, Madrid police suspect he might have fallen into the river.

Family and friends of the San Diego, California native didn't want to comment on the discovery. "This isn't the moment to talk about it," said Mikel, the husband of Bice's roommate and landlord, Kiara Costa.

His father, Larry Bice, who has been in Madrid since last week to help search for his son, turned off his cellphone and couldn't be reached for comment.

Police said the body was found near the place where he was last seen. Bice, a student at the Carlos III University, disappeared on February 25 after he and a friend tried to enter the La Riviera nightclub in Paseo Virgen del Puerto. The bouncers at the club didn't let them in because Bice was reportedly "a little bit drunk."

Bice left his friend, Alex Fleming, and said he was headed off home. It was the last time anyone saw the student.

Hours before the discovery, students at San Diego State University held a vigil Monday night for Austin. "We are totally confident that we will bring Austin home to his family," Alexis Gompf, Austin's former high school sweetheart, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Pam Bice, Austin's mother, didn't attend the vigil because "I need to stay by the phone just in case my son calls," the newspaper reported.

It wasn't immediately clear what time police found the body but the news was made public at around 10.45am after family members were told.

A team from the Halo Corp., a California-based security firm, was due to travel to Madrid to aid in the search.