The remains of experienced British diver Steve Clowes have been formally identified more than two years after he disappeared during a wreck dive off the Dorset coast.
Stephen Michael Clowes, 57, from Sheffield, failed to surface following a dive on the wreck of the Aracan on 25 May 2024.
His disappearance prompted an extensive air and sea search, but Steve was not found.
Now, more than two years after he vanished, an inquest into his death has been opened in Devon following the identification of human remains recovered from the sea off Brixham in October 2025.
The development brings an end to a prolonged period of uncertainty for a family whose experience The Scuba News reported on earlier this year, when Steve’s widow Vivien spoke about the long-term consequences faced by families after a diver goes missing.
Remains Recovered Off Brixham
Human remains were recovered from the sea off Brixham, Devon, on 9 October 2025, approximately 16 months after Steve disappeared.
They have since been formally identified as belonging to Steve.
The official register of inquest openings maintained by His Majesty’s Coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay lists Stephen Michael Clowes, born on 31 October 1966, with a recorded date of death of 9 October 2025.
The date corresponds to the recovery of his remains and should not be interpreted as indicating that Steve survived after his disappearance in May 2024.
The cause of death is currently recorded as unascertained. The inquest has been adjourned and a full hearing is expected to take place at a later date.
Steve’s Final Dive
Steve disappeared while diving the Aracan, a 19th-century sailing vessel lying at a depth of approximately 56 metres around 13 nautical miles from Portland Bill.
An experienced technical diver and instructor with more than 25 years in diving, Steve held PADI Master Instructor and TDI Instructor qualifications.
During his ascent from the wreck, he had reached the planned 15-metre stop and deployed a delayed surface marker buoy.
He subsequently failed to surface.
A major search operation followed, involving Weymouth and Swanage RNLI lifeboats, Coastguard helicopters, a fixed-wing aircraft and Coastguard rescue personnel.
Despite the scale of the operation, no trace of Steve was found and the search was eventually stood down.
Two Years of Uncertainty
The identification takes on particular significance because of what happened to Steve’s family after the search ended.
In June 2026, The Scuba News reported on the experience of Steve’s widow Vivien and the difficulties families can face long after the immediate search for a missing diver has finished.
At that point, more than two years had passed since Steve disappeared.
His body had apparently never been recovered, leaving his family dealing not only with their loss but with the additional legal, financial and practical complications that can arise when someone remains missing.
Vivien had spoken publicly about those challenges and supported calls for improvements to bereavement support for widowed families.
Her experience highlighted an aspect of diving fatalities that can receive relatively little attention.
When a diver is recovered, families can begin dealing with the formal processes that follow a death. When someone simply disappears at sea, those processes can become significantly more complicated.
Steve’s family spent more than two years without knowing whether he would ever be found.
The identification of the remains recovered off Brixham finally provides an answer to that particular question.
An Experienced Diver and Instructor
Steve’s disappearance was particularly felt within the diving community because of his extensive experience.
He had been diving for more than 25 years and had trained other divers during a long involvement with the sport.
His disappearance was therefore not simply another statistic associated with a diving incident. He was an instructor, husband and father whose absence continued to affect his family long after the search vessels returned to shore.
That human dimension was at the centre of our previous coverage.
In June, we wrote that while investigations eventually conclude and headlines move on, the effects on the people left behind often remain.
For the Clowes family, the latest development brings one part of that extraordinarily long period of uncertainty to an end.
Steve has finally been identified.
Questions about precisely what happened during his final dive, however, remain unanswered.
The full inquest is expected to take place at a later date.
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