British scout leader killed after plunging 1,000ft down an Alpine ravine

A scout leader has plunged 1,000ft to his death down a ravine in Liechtenstein.

Tom Moore was on a trip with a group from Hertfordshire when the accident happened.

His mother, Diane Moore, 48, said last night: 'We are in complete shock and are totally devastated.

'It's a mystery why this happened. We think he slipped and fell.'

The 21-year-old, a member of Stevenage Scouting, travelled to Liechtenstein with 50 other Scouts.

Towards the end of the trip, he went walking alone on the Mittagsspitz mountain.

Tom, of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, told colleagues he was going to walk local ridges and took with him a day sack, money and his passport.

He said he would return in time to join the main party on its scheduled return to the UK last Saturday morning.

But when he failed to turn up, worried members of his scouting team alerted local police and a massive search was launched in the mountains.

Tom's shocked family were told hours later he had vanished and his mother and father, Pete, 51, flew straight to Liechtenstein as the hunt took place.

A helicopter was deployed and sniffer dogs sent out with mountain guides as fears grew for his safety.

The university student's body was found by search teams on Monday at the bottom of a ravine.

Mrs Moore said from Liechtenstein: 'Tom was an experienced scout so it's a mystery why this happened.

'He had been in the scout movement since he was six and had been hiking in mountainous areas since he was 13.

Danger spot: The Liechtenstein peak where Tom Moore's body was discovered

'We think he slipped and fell.'  She added: 'We're a very close-knit family and it's the worst thing that could have happened.

'But we had to bear in mind that when he went off on these adventures, we knew there was a possibility this could happen.

'But we know from texts and photos that he was having the time of his life.'

Tom, a former head boy at Barclay School, Stevenage, was studying environmental science at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

Mrs Moore added: 'Tom was the friendliest, most outgoing person you could meet.

'He knew lots of people and was into so much.

'He was passionately "green" and into recycling and although he could drive he would cycle everywhere.'

Tom, a proud Queen's Scout, had won a string of leading awards in his outstanding scouting career.

They included the Duke of Edinburgh Gold award and the Explorer Belt after spending a month doing community work in Uganda in East Africa.

Sarah White, a close family friend from Stevenage, said: 'Tom has achieved everything he set out to do and would have gone on to achieve so much more.

"This is absolutely heartbreaking for his family and many friends.' 

The scout leader's brother Andrew, 20, and sister Maxine, 16, have also been left distraught by his shock death.

A Scout Association spokesman said: 'All our thoughts are with Tom's family at this sad time.'

His parents were expected to fly home with his body today.

Liechtenstein, which has a population of just 35,000, is a tiny landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland to its west and by Austria to its east.