Tributes paid to Elgin teenager found dead at woods in Moray

Sam Grigor: The teenager's body was discovered at the weekend.

Tributes have been paid to "fun-loving" teenager who was found dead in a woodland area in Moray at the weekend.

The 18-year-old, named locally as Sam Grigor, was discovered at woods near Birnie on Saturday afternoon.

It is understood the former Elgin High School pupil was working as an apprentice floor layer in the town.

On Monday, friends paid tribute to Mr Grigor on social networking sites.

Friend Chris Milne told STV: “Nobody is certain yet what happened to Sam but this is a really, really tragic thing.

"He was a typical, fun-loving teenager – a great-natured guy that seemed to get along with everyone.”

Elgin South councillor Graeme Leadbitter added: “It is always very sad to hear of the death of a person so young and my immediate thoughts go to his family and friends.”

Officers were called to Birnie Wood around 2pm on Saturday and cordoned off a large area of the woodland close to the Birnie Inn to allow a forensic team to carry out an investigation.

A Grampian Police spokesman later confirmed that the body of a man had been found and that there were no suspicious circumstances.

Moray councillor for Fochabers/Lhanbryde, Douglas Ross, said that the local community would give their “full support” to the police. He said: “There is no doubt that the community will be shocked by this news.

“This is a very small and close-knit area and if it is a local person or someone from the wider area then people will be particularly sorry to hear about this, and I’m sure their thoughts will be with the family of this man.”

Fellow councillor Sean Morton added: “I would also like to extend my sympathies to the man’s relatives. People are going to be concerned about this as they feel it is a safe place to go to.”

Birnie Wood is a popular area with local people for walking and exercising their dogs.

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