Joshua Kershaw’s devastated family have paid tribute to the ‘cheeky and happy’ 21 year old after hotel staff discovered his body in a Bangkok hotel on Wednesday, January 14
The family of 21-year-old missing Brit Joshua Kershaw have said they are heartbroken after discovering their “cheeky and happy” lad had been found dead in a Thai hotel room a week ago.
Joshua had jetted for a week’s break in Thailand on January 12 when he stopped responding to calls from his mum, Jenny, 39.
The young landscaper, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, had told his family he was flying to the Thai capital Bangkok before heading to the southern resort of Pattaya for his trip.
He had already spent a month at the spot, known for its beaches, during another week-long Thai getaway at the beginning of December.
However after days of trying and failing to reach him, Joshua’s horrified relatives found out that he had never left Bangkok.
His family have said that hotel staff discovered his body in the room where he was staying in his bed with a bandage wrapped around his arm.
The heartbroken family said he was discovered a week ago on Wednesday, January 14. The family had reported him missing to the British Embassy in Pattaya and so Bangkok officials were unaware he was missing.
Mum Jenny alerted police on Saturday (January 17) but it wasn’t until they escalated his case to high priority on Tuesday (January 20) they successfully traced him to Bangkok, the Manchester Evening News reports.
Joshua’s cause of death remains unknown, his body has been taken to a morgue, officials have told the family, with an investigation into his death and a post-mortem to be completed before he is returned home.
Joshua’s auntie Jade Kershaw, 31, from Wakefield, said: “He was a cheeky chap and so full of joy. He was always happy and there were never any bad moment with him. He leaves behind his four little sisters, who all love him so much.
“He just loved to travel. He would go on holiday, come back and work for a couple of months, and then head back out. On the day he arrived, he called home and he was doing fine, talking to Jenny about his journey.”
“He then told her he was going to get some food, and then we hadn’t heard from him since. We thought he had made it to Pattaya, but the police told us he never left Bangkok.
“It was so unlike him not to reply to messages or pick up his mums calls, he spoke to her everyday. We didn’t report him was missing at first as we thought he might have just lost his phone. But then Jenny got worried.”
In a heartbreaking post on social media Jenny said: “As much as my heart is breaking right now, we have now located josh, but unfortunately he was not alive. We are now trying to get his body back to the UK.”
Joshua was due to fly home to the UK on January 19, 2026 at 8:30pm (Thai time), landing at London Heathrow on January 20 at 6:25am. The family have said he not board this flight, which they say was later confirmed by police officials.
Jade said she drove five hours to Heathrow to check just in case he had boarded the flight home, but she didn’t find him in the airport. Jade says the family have been in contact with the international funeral directors to help bring his body home.
She says it is still currently unknown when Joshua will be returned to the UK. Jade said the money from the GoFundMe will now go to towards bringing Joshua’s body back to the UK and his funeral cost.
“We started the GoFundMe and were planning to go and look for him in Thailand next week. Police came round this morning at around 8am Jenny’s house today, and told her he has passed.
“She is absolutely devastated by the news. Hopefully, the post-mortem won’t take long as we want him back home.”
