AN 18-year-old boy who was found dead weeks after going missing was interviewed by police over concerns he was being groomed, his grandfather has claimed.

Adam Taylor, 18, was found dead on the banks of the River Roach, Great Wakering, on March 21 last year – eight weeks after he was last seen alive on January 23.

Now, his grandfather, David, has claimed an investigation, which cleared police of any wrongdoing, “barely scratched the surface”.

He has claimed Adam was interviewed by police and social services over concerns he was being groomed, in October and November 2017.

Police could not confirm or deny whether Adam was interviewed by Essex Police, while Southend Council stated it would not comment.

Grandad David said: “[Adam’s mum] Clare told me he had somehow got involved with social services. There were concerns he had this association with a drug dealer, who was potentially taking advantage of children. Police were present at the interviews, they were talking to him about this. But when he was reported missing [he] was put down as low risk.

“The case was closed on different occasions. There were clear signs and the moment he went missing, it should have been clear.

“He had at least three meetings with child protection, instigated by Southend social services. More should have been done.”

Adam initially went missing on January 23, but police did not issue an appeal until a month later.

During Adam’s inquest, it was revealed that his body was so decomposed that no cause of death could be found.

Mr Taylor is insistent Adam would not have killed himself, claiming Adam “would have spoken to him”.

He also pointed out Adam’s eagerness to join the Army.

The 18-year-old had also been accepted on a scheme to travel to Italy to cook with Michelin star chefs - although the letter confirming his spot came weeks before his body was found.

David also raised concerns that Adam initially went missing just before the Beast from the East hit - fearing the weather may have proved fatal.

But he has complaint this had not been mentioned in any proceedings.

He added: “The public need to see the police are learning lessons from this.

"They must say they will not ignore concerned mothers who know there children best."

Following the IOPC investigation, one inspector, who did not re-grade the incident after finding out Adam had not used his debit card for some time, received a debrief from a line manager.

Following Mr Taylor’s claims, an IOPC spokesman said: “We advised the family of the scope of our investigation at its start and kept them updated throughout.

“Following its conclusion, in April, we sent them our report with an explanation of what we examined, together with our findings. We offered to meet them to discuss the findings in person.

“We found no indication to justify bringing any disciplinary proceedings and that police actions were in line with policies in place at the time.

“However, we recommended some learning for Essex Police around clarifying their missing person procedure to which the force responded positively and quickly adopted.

"We intend to offer the family a further meeting.”

o discuss any ongoing concerns.”