Family of Darren Orme pay tribute to their ‘loving brother with an infectious smile’

The 54-year-old Latics superfan vanished on the evening of Wednesday March 5, prompting a major police investigation and a huge public response.

Sadly, 19 days later, Darren’s body was found in the canal close to The Brick Community Stadium, where he enjoyed so many matches supporting Wigan Athletic.

Greater Manchester Police said they appreciate the public’s support in enabling their search teams to carry out their work and would also like to thank everyone who shared the appeals in efforts to locate Darren.

In a new statement released by GMP this morning, Darren’s family said: “Darren was a loving brother with a beautiful and infectious smile, he was truly the glue that held our family together.

“He had a heart of gold and a beautiful soul, he always saw the good in everyone. He was confident yet quirky but also vulnerable in his own way. He possessed a playful and mischievous character.

“Darren loved his football, and he was a passionate Wigan Athletic fan. We've always described Darren as Latics royalty, and these past few weeks have really shown our family just how much he means to our community.

“The messages of support and efforts to search for him have been truly amazing.”

“Darren meant the absolute world to us, he will be greatly missed by his family and all of us that knew and loved him.”

An inquest looking into the circumstances surrounding his death opened at Bolton Coroner’s Court this week with a full hearing scheduled for July 9.