22:21, UK, Sunday 13 April 2008

Family and friends have spoken of their grief after TV presenter Mark Speight was found dead six days after he went missing in London.

His body was found in a remote spot at Paddington railway station. Officers said he was not struck by a train.

The 42-year-old presenter was in a "vulnerable" state following the drug death of his fiancee, Natasha Collins, in January.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "At this stage the death is being treated as unexplained.

"The body has been removed from the scene and CCTV from the station has been seized as part of the ongoing investigation."

Sky's Kitty Logan, in Paddington, said: "We don't know how long the body lay there, or who found him.

"It's unclear at the moment how he was found, or what happened to him."

Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said the area where the body was found is not accessible to the public.

He added: "It looks like he found a quiet spot to die."

The children's TV star vanished after boarding a Tube train in north London on Monday.

He was reported missing after failing to meet his dead fiancee's mother Carmen Collins for coffee in Covent Garden the same day.

A family spokeswoman said: "Carmen Collins is devastated by the news that Mark's body has been found and would like time to grieve in peace."

The news of his death came a day after his father Oliver issued an emotional appeal for him to get in touch.

He said: "Mark was a wonderful son and brother to his family and he will be very sadly missed.



"Mark was a wonderful man, a gifted artist with a warm and gentle personality, who touched the lives of so many people with his unique skills and talents," she said.

Scotland Yard had been investigating unconfirmed sightings of Mr Speight in Bournemouth, St Albans and London.

Close family members had been leaving messages on the presenter's mobile phone.

Jan Kennedy, of Billy Marsh Associates, Speight's agent, said: "We are absolutely devastated at the tragic news of the loss of Mark.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family as well as the family of his beloved fiancee, Natasha, whose equally tragic death had effected him so inconsolably."

Miss Collins was found dead on January 3 from boiling water burns and a drugs overdose in the bath of the north west London flat she shared with Speight.

The presenter told police the couple had been "partying" and had taken cocaine and sleeping pills as well as drinking wine and vodka.

He was initially arrested on suspicion of murder and supplying Class A drugs, but last month Scotland Yard said he would not face any charges over the death.

Mr Speight looked drawn and gaunt when he attended her inquest just six days before he went missing.

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