GRIEVING parents have paid tribute to their son after his body was found in woodland weeks after going missing.

Caspar Capel, 43, went missing on January 14 and after weeks of coordinated searches involving mountain rescue teams and police he was discovered in Beacon Edge Woods, near Penrith.

The former Settlebeck School pupil had been last seen at Eden Housing Association but is believed to have gone to the woods that evening.

Although he had been staying in a hostel in Carlisle, Mr Capel grew up between Sedbergh and Kirkby Stephen after his parents moved to the area when he was 10.

He worked in Kendal after leaving school and later lived in the town for a short while.

"We always lived in rural areas when he and his sister were growing up and he developed a love of the countryside and outdoor activities," said his parents Sue, 67, and 71-year-old Dick Capel, of Kirkby Stephen.

"Natural at sport" and a keen cyclist, Mr Capel was diagnosed with a mental health condition in his twenties.

"Caspar had been troubled with anxiety, depression and social isolation for many years," added his parents. "Over the last twenty years he has needed a great deal of support from us in many different ways and has found it very difficult to live independently and make use of the limited support offered in the community."

His parents added one professional described him as "an enigma - someone who one minute could engage in deep and friendly discussions and the next was thrown into the depths of depression and anger about life."

They added: "Caspar himself said several times, “I don’t think I was meant for this world”. As his parents we will always wish that things had turned out differently for Caspar and that he could have been spared so much pain."

Cumbria police said there were no suspicious circumstances regarding his death at this time and details had been passed to the coroner.

The force said it would like to thank the local mountain rescue teams involved in the search for Mr Capel, including Penrith MRT, Kendal MRT, Kirkby Stephen MRT and Cockermouth MRT.