New psychoactive substances, formerly known as legal highs, are synthetic versions of drugs such as amphetamines and cannabis created to mimic their effects.
Advertisement
Nathan was reportedly last seen running naked near the river in a “distressed state” before falling into the water at around 6pm and police found his clothes on the river bank.
The search is ongoing today and police are appealing for anyone who has seen Nathan to get in touch.
Inspector Mark Waldron of Devon and Cornwall police said the search was proving hard. The lifeboat crew searched and found no one.
There have been no sightings of Nathan since then and it is not known whether he entered the river, though friends reported hearing a splash.
“We believe he has entered the water because we have done two days of land searches”, she said.
Insp Tracy Sharam thanked members of the public who came forward to report Nathan may have taken the drug.
Other websites report the negative and after-effects of the drug are worse than that of LSD, and a high dose can be the size of just six small grains of regular table salt.
The body was in the river, in the area where Nathan went missing.
He had been with a group of female friends and may have been under the influence of what has been called a “potential new psychoactive substance”.
The team’s duty search manager said: “DSRT Ashburton covered a lot of ground overnight during the 6-hour deployment, which focused on high-probability areas around the “point last seen” for the lad”.
Nathan, from Paignton, is described as being around 5ft 6ins in height, of slim build with gingery fair hair, a long fringe and fair skin.
Advertisement
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 999 quoting reference 775 of 5 August.
