Valentine's trip Briton drowned

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Richard Raynor, 23, from Retford, Notts, went missing early on Thursday morning.

He had been out with his girlfriend Katie Robinson in the city but vanished as she looked for a taxi to catch back to their hotel in the Mestre area of the city.

An Italian police spokeswoman said: "The post-mortem examination has taken place and shows he died of drowning. It appears to be an accident. There are no signs of it being a crime or that he hurt himself."

Ms Robinson contacted police after returning without Mr Raynor to their hotel, according to reports.

The 22-year-old told The Times the couple had dinner and drinks, then went to the Piazzale Roma to get a taxi back to their hotel. She was talking to a taxi driver when she lost sight of Mr Raynor.

She said: "I turned around and he'd gone, he'd just disappeared. He rang me and asked where I was. I told him I was in a taxi. He said, fine, he'd get one and meet me back at the hotel."

She took her return flight to East Midlands Airport on Friday evening as planned as she had to care for her three-year-old son, from a previous relationship.

She had hoped Mr Raynor would go to the airport to catch the same flight but he did not arrive.

Mr Raynor's body was discovered underneath a bridge connecting Venice lagoon to the mainland. An elderly couple later returned his mobile phone, wallet and room key to the hotel. It is not known where the items were found.