A body found in the Danube in Budapest on Thursday evening may be that of the missing French exchange student Ophelie Bretnacher, Hungarian police told the local news agency MTI.
Boatmen informed the Hungarian river police at 6 pm that they had spotted a dead body in the water near Csepel Island, a few kilometres downriver of the city centre, dpa reported.
Budapest police said that they were trying to establish the identity of the body, and it "cannot be ruled out" that it is that of Bretnacher.
The 22-year-old exchange student disappeared before dawn on December 4 last year after setting off alone to walk home from a party in the centre of Budapest.
Her handbag was subsequently found on the famous Chain Bridge across the Danube. CCTV footage collected by the police showed the young Frenchwoman walking towards the bridge.
However, the trail went cold at that point, and despite an extensive investigation and a search by Hungarian and French river police, no further trace of Bretnacher was ever found.
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