TRIBUTES have been paid to a missing Bolton man whose body was found in the Manchester Ship Canal.

Stephen Swanton, aged 33, disappeared in mid September after leaving the family home in Brunswick Court, Halliwell, following an argument.

His body was found in the water in the canal near Media City in Salford on December 16 but was not identified until Friday January 15. No cause of death has yet been recorded and the police continue to investigate.

The family of Mr Swanton, who was unemployed at the time of his death, are devastated and believe that he was murdered.

His mother, Caroline Swanton, said: "I think it is murder. I think he has been dumped there. Everyone we have spoken to in the pub about it have said the same. I don't think he has fallen in. He was a strong swimmer. He had two broken teeth and a broken nose and I was asked by the coroner: did he have any problem with his neck? I think he's mixed with the wrong people. He's been easily led by different people. We want to know if he was staying with someone and for that person to come forward."

Mr Swanton's sister, Vicky Swanick, said: "Everybody is very shocked, We couldn't understand it at first. We kept saying it couldn't be him in Manchester. We find it very unusual for him to be found where he's been found, and everything that's happened."

Mrs Swanton said on the morning of the day her son went missing she had thrown him out the house and packed up his belongings in bags and left them on the patio table.

Mr Swanton moved the bags into the shed but never retrieved them. He snuck back into the house during the evening and then ran off when he was confronted, leaving behind his personal belongings and clothes.

She said: "Usually he would have come home the day after or a couple of days after. He would always come home. We were very close. Stephen was always smiling. He has always been a loving person. He was friendly and would cuddle people he didn't even know."

Mr Swanton enjoyed taking brother Alan's children to school and liked to direct his restless energy into activities such as decorating and cleaning.

Mrs Swanton said: "He used to go to the paper shop for me and smile through the window as he was walking back in.

"I miss that. I keep thinking he's going to come back and smile through the window again."

There were at least four sighting of Stephen since he was reported missing on September 17.

He was seen outside Bolton Market the following Saturday by a distant relative who had to decline his invitation to join him for a drink down the pub.

Mr Swanton was seen on CCTV outside Game in Victoria Square in Bolton town centre some time in October.

The Swanton family's neighbour noticed him out and about in Chorley Old Road, Halliwell, and he was spotted in the company of a mystery man with blond hair outside The Royal Hotel pub in Vernon Street near the family home although the dates of these sightings are not clear.

The inquest into Mr Swanton's death was opened on December 30 at South Manchester Coroner's Court in Stockport and will resume on June 3.