The father of the investment banker who plunged to his death from his luxury Manhattan apartment where police found evidence of a wild party said today that he fears his son turned to drink and drugs to cope with the stress of work.

John Hughes said that son Thomas had been under a ‘lot of pressure’ and that he even had to work on a recent holiday in the Bahamas.

Police reportedly found one ziplock bag filled with cocaine and residue on four bags and a rolled up dollar bill, suggesting Wolf of Wall Street-style drug use before the death.

Thomas’ body was found on Thursday morning on the sidewalk outside his apartment block after apparently jumping 200ft from his home on the 24th floor.

Thomas J Hughes, 29, originally from Westchester County, New York, was mourned by colleagues and family on Friday after jumping to his death from a luxury apartment building in downtown Manhattan

The Moelis & Company employee was remembered as 'talented' and a 'positive force' by colleagues. Above, Hughes (second from right) poses with his family at the Manhattan restaurant Per Se

He is the 12th person this year who worked in finance have taken their own life amid renewed focus on the demands that Wall St places on young bankers.

John, 61, described his son, 29-year-old son, as someone who ‘liked to work hard and liked to party’ and feared that he found release in illegal drugs which turned him suicidal.

The lawyer from Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, told Daily Mail Online: ‘Naturally this is a complete surprise to us. We are devastated.

‘Thomas was a happy, jovial, successful, good looking, very sociable individual.

‘The only explanation is that I know he’s been working very hard and has been under a lot of pressure.

‘His work did not leave much time for enjoyment but that’s the nature of the assignment that he chose.

‘I also know that sometimes when one is in that environment you can turn to alcohol or other types of drugs...

‘...at a time when he was under stress he probably resorted to illegal drugs, causing this incredibly poor judgement, is probably the best I can say.

‘He must have had some problems that I was not privy to.’

In addition to drugs, police found two Chase credit cards and a debit card in Thomas's apartment in New York's Financial District, according to sources cited by the New York Post.

Tributes to Hughes followed shock on Thursday morning as details about the scene in lower Manhattan emerged

The body was thought to have bounced off of or narrowly missed a passing Honda CRV on the lower Manhattan street

Hughes, who was educated at Northwestern, jumped to his death after returning from a vacation in the Bahamas

The youngest of three brothers, Thomas was educated at the $52,000 a year Canterbury School in Milford, Connecticut.

He studied economics at Northwestern University where he scored well in his exams and was on the Varsity squash team before heading to Wall St and getting jobs with Swiss company UBS and then Citibank..

Early last year Thomas joined Park Avenue investment bank Moelis & Company where he was promoted to an associate and told his father it was a ‘great firm, a great place to work’.

At the time of his death he was living at the Ocean Luxury Residences, which has views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbour and where one-bedroom properties have previously sold for more than $1million.

John said that Thomas ‘had everything that you could seemingly want’ but was apparently troubled.

John said that the long hours meant that his son’s job was ‘all encompassing’ but he told him that he was ‘enjoying his work’.

He told Daily Mail Online that the high pressure was the ‘nature of the industry’ that his son was in and that he ‘didn’t seek to blame anybody’.

John said: ‘It’s not what might have been but what won’t be.

‘He probably would have had a wonderful, long life but that’s not going to happen.

‘I wish I would have crystal clear answers.

‘If you met him you would say this is the opposite person who would seem like the kind of person who was considering taking this type of action’.

After Thomas’ death his brother Joseph posted a touching tribute on his Facebook page showing the two together when they were younger.

Also paying tribute was a spokeswoman for Moelis & Company.

She said: ‘We are saddened by the news of Tom's death and send our sincere condolences to his family and friends at this very sad time.

‘Tom was a talented and valued team member and a positive force in our firm. He will be greatly missed.’

Reports about Thomas’ death said that he tried to kill himself earlier in the day by slitting his wrists.

He was thought to have jumped from the 24th story of the building, which has views of the Statue of Liberty

Body parts were found underneath a passing car, and an employee at a nearby parking garage was sent home after seeing the incident and have blood splattered on his shirt. Above, the building's lobby

After he fell to the sidewalk body parts were scattered in the street and a passing Honda CRV was either hit or narrowly missed.

An employee at a nearby parking garage was sent home after seeing his body explode on impact and having blood splattered on his shirt.

Relatives were reportedly unable to officially identify the body due to the severity of the injuries. Police will now use fingerprints.

Witness Mario Mroczkowski said that Thomas was decapitated after hitting a guard rail for a road that leads into Manhattan according to the New York Daily News.

'I got close, but when I looked, all I saw were body parts ... guts everywhere,' he said.

Tourists on an open-air bus took out their cell phones to take pictures of the incident, according to nearby workers.

Thomas’ life was documented on his Facebook page which showed he checked in the trendy Surf Lodge in Montauk on Long Island last summer and also visited Miami beach.

Among his likes were men’s clothing retailer Brooks Brothers, Harper’s Magazine and Bret Easton Ellis, who wrote ‘American Psycho’, the gory satire of 80s Wall St bankers.

Thomas also posted about having dinner at the three Michelin Star restaurant Per Se with his family.

The New York City Police Department said that the case is still under investigation but so far there is no sign of criminality.

The previous death of a financial worker was on March 12 when 28-year-old Kenneth Bellando was found on the sidewalk outside his six-story Manhattan apartment building.