Officers searching for the University of Worcester student Thomas Jones, who went missing nine days ago during freshers’ week, have recovered a body from the River Severn.

West Mercia police said in a statement on Friday: “Sadly, officers searching for missing 18-year-old Thomas Jones have recovered a body from the River Severn in Worcester today.

“Thomas’s next of kin have been informed but as formal identification has not yet taken place, no further details can be released at this time.”

Jones disappeared on 19 September. Two 20-year-old men had been arrested on suspicion of murder but were released without charge on Tuesday. Hundreds of volunteers had helped in the search for the teenager, police said.

Jones was thought to have crossed the Sabrina footbridge before walking on to the footpath along the top of the flood defences on Hylton Road, towards Hallow, just before 3.50am.

Police dive teams conducted searches in the waters of the Severn in an effort to find Jones.

The student had been due to attend his first lecture for his primary education course on Monday.

His friend Harley Hetherington, 18, who was beginning the same course, said on a Facebook site that had been set up to try to find Jones: “It is with deep sadness that I must inform you all that a body has been recovered from the River Severn this afternoon by police forces. Although no formal identification has taken place as of yet I want to send a formal message now to you all to stop speculation immediately.

“I must thank you all for all the hard work you have put in to help the cause and I can say that Tom’s family and friends are all so thankful for every single one of you and the work you guys have all done.”

Hetherington previously said he had seen him in the Velvet nightclub just before he went missing. “He seemed absolutely fine. He was behaving normally and didn’t seem intoxicated at all. He was his usual bubbly self, looking forward to starting uni,” he said.

“Tom phoned his mum and then his new flatmate to tell him he was two minutes away from home before he disappeared. Nobody can quite understand how it’s happened. He was quite close to getting home safe and had told people he was fine right up until the point he went missing.”

Jones’s aunt Jackie Rogers said: “He’s a little-ish lad, but big in personality. To go missing is totally out of character for him.”

Rogers said Jones had been with his father watching the football team he supports, West Bromwich Albion, on Wednesday before going out in Worcester.