{"id":337329,"date":"2025-12-26T23:38:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T23:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/337329\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T23:38:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T23:38:14","slug":"man-missing-at-sea-after-christmas-day-swim-in-devon-is-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/337329\/","title":{"rendered":"Man missing at sea after Christmas Day swim in Devon is named"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

One of the two men who were swept away at sea<\/a> during a Christmas Day swim in Devon<\/a> has been named by his family. <\/p>\n

Local antiques shop owner Matthew Upham was reported missing on Thursday <\/a>morning after a \u201ctruly tragic incident\u201d in Budleigh Salterton.<\/p>\n

Emergency services<\/a> were called to the scene after several people were reported struggling among large waves at the beach. Several were escorted to safety, but a man in his forties and a man in his sixties remain missing as of Boxing Day and have not been located. <\/p>\n

After an extensive search, the operation was concluded on Thursday <\/a>afternoon and the families of those missing were informed. <\/p>\n

Mr Upham\u2019s family wrote in a statement on his company\u2019s Instagram page on Friday: \u201cOur family is heartbroken by the loss of our beloved family member, Matthew Upham, who was reported missing on Christmas morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthew is deeply loved and will be forever missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Storm<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Storm waves crashing onto the pebbled beach at Budleigh Salterton in Devon (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n

It continued: \u201cWe would like to express our sincere and heartfelt thanks to the emergency services who responded, particularly the RNLI<\/a> and coastguard for their dedication, professionalism, and tireless efforts during this extremely difficult time. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are profoundly grateful for their compassion and support. As we grieve and support one another, we kindly ask that our family\u2019s privacy is respected. We thank everyone for their understanding, kindness, and condolences.\u201d<\/p>\n

He ran the appointment-only Matthew Upham Antiques on Budleigh Salterton\u2019s high street, offering \u201ca captivating assortment of chandeliers sourced from various regions across Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n

His website also stated that the chandeliers offered by the business \u201cbeautifully complement our collection of 18th-century furniture, creating a harmonious blend of timeless elegance\u201d. <\/p>\n

The business had originally been based in London for four decades before moving to the seaside town. <\/p>\n

Tributes poured in for the businessman, with commenters describing him as \u201cthe kindest person\u201d and a \u201cshining star\u201d. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The incident came amid a Met Office yellow weather warning for wind, which was in place for parts of southwest England and Wales on Thursday. Police urged members of the public to avoid swimming in the water on Boxing Day.<\/p>\n

Footage from the day shows several people struggling to get out of the water as large waves crash against the shore. <\/p>\n

Mike Brown, 60, who does the Christmas Day swim in Budleigh Salterton most years, told the BBC that the conditions on Thursday were the “worst” he had ever seen.<\/p>\n

The local resident said that he was “unable to get out” after entering the sea and was helped by “two very brave men”.<\/p>\n

Detective Superintendent Hayley Costar, of Devon and Cornwall Police<\/a>, said: \u201cToday, emergency services have been responding to a truly tragic incident in Budleigh Salterton.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur thoughts remain firmly with the families and friends of the two men who are currently missing and to all who may have witnessed and be impacted by the incident. The local community will have seen a significant amount of emergency services in the area throughout the day as extensive enquiries have been ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs dark falls, a number of these searches have been stood down, with some police enquiries on land continuing this evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coastguard rescue teams from surrounding areas were assisted by search and rescue helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, along with police and ambulance personnel. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-337329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}