Preparations were being made today to bring the body of Stephen King back home from Australia to his heartbroken family in Co Armagh.

A massive search was launched in Melbourne two weeks ago after the 27-year old Keady man went missing during a night out with friends.

The tiler and decorator was three weeks into a working holiday on July 19 and was last seen heading to a casino after spending the night with pals.

Volunteers joined the emergency services and spent a fortnight looking for Stephen but the search was called off around noon on Saturday when the body of a man was found in the Yarra River.

Police found cash, his flat keys and his mobile phone on him and while they are awaiting the results of the post mortem to formally identify the body, Stephen’s brother Seamus — who flew out to Australia to join in the search — acknowledged it was his missing brother.

Speaking to the Melbourne Herald Sun yesterday, Seamus said: “We’ve spent the day on the phone talking to our family in Ireland and obviously our parents are devastated.

“But we have been heartened and are grateful to so many strangers and friends in Melbourne who have helped us through this ordeal.”

Another brother, Peter, who also flew out to join in the search, said: “We can’t believe the kindness we have been shown by so many people who have expressed concern for Stephen.”

Stephen was last seen leaving PJ O’Brien’s pub in Southbank at around 3.15am on July 19. He told his friends he was going to the Crown Casino.

The alarm was raised by his concerned friends the following day when he failed to turn up to watch a Gaelic football match with them on a pub television.

After Stephen’s body was pulled from the waters of the Yarra River at the weekend the King family issued a statement thanking both the people of Melbourne and of Keady for their support during the agonising fortnight he was missing.

The statement paid tribute to Stephen’s friends and “the wider Irish community in Melbourne for their tireless efforts during the last two weeks”.

The family also thanked the people of Keady for their continued support “during this very difficult time”.

Stephen had been living with a friend from home in a flat in the St Kilda area of Melbourne when he disappeared.