Devastated family pay tribute to Freya Cayley, 16, who died in Saltburn sea tragedy

The family of a teenager whose body was pulled from the sea at Saltburn beach have paid tribute to their “beautiful daughter”.

Emergency services, including two lifeboats and an air ambulance, scrambled to the beach in North Yorkshire at around 2pm on Sunday (4 June) following reports of a body in the water.

Cleveland Police have now confirmed that the body pulled from the water was 16-year-old Freya Cayley from Easington, Cleveland.

A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We received a call to 999 at 13:35 to reports of a body recovered from the water. The coastguard attended the scene and we dispatched two double-crewed ambulances, a specialist paramedic, and the air ambulance.”

The “devastated” family of the teenager have now paid tribute and said it is “not possible” to describe their pain and loss, and have asked for privacy at this “extremely difficult time”.

They said in a statement: “We are truly devastated to announce the passing of our beautiful daughter Freya “Boo”. It is not possible to describe the pain and loss that we as a family feel. We take so much comfort in knowing how loved Freya was by so many.

“We will never overcome the loss of our treasured child but we will strive to carry her memory forward and celebrate Freya as life continues for us. We love and miss you Boo but we know you are always with us in our hearts, we will never truly lose you xxxx.”

Cleveland Police confirmed it is continuing its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death.

The tragedy comes a week after two teenagers died from drowning in the sea off Bournemouth beach. An inquest on Monday (5 June) heard that Joe Abbess, 17, from Southampton, and Sunnah Khan, 12, from Buckinghamshire, died in hospital after being rescued from the sea, while eight other people were recovered from the water and treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

It has been suggested that the swimmers got into difficulty by getting caught in a riptide next to the pier at the Dorset seaside resort on 31 May.

All boat operations have been suspended off Bournemouth pier following the deaths. Dorset Police has also impounded the pleasure cruiser Dorset Belle at its berth in Poole Harbour following the fatal incident.