TEARFUL friends and family packed a Caldicot church yesterday to say an emotional goodbye to a tragic Gwent man.

Joel Andrews, 25, was found dead, six weeks after going missing while at a rave on Dartmoor.

Yesterday friends, family and wellw i s h e r s attended his funeral at St Mary’s Church, Caldicot, the church where he was baptised.

Liverpool football anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone played as Mr Andrews’ coffin, draped with a Liverpool shirt, was carried into the church.

The Reverend Dennis Richards welcomed the congregation to the service and gave thanks on behalf of the family to the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team (Plymouth), Global Rescue Services (Water Dogs) and SAM (Social Alert Me), as well as Gwent Police family liaison officer Claire Offers and the people of Chagford, where Mr Andrews’ body was found.

Sara Bannister, Mr Andrews’ girlfriend, gave an emotional tribute, describing Mr Andrews as a “loving angel” and asked people to dance in his memory as his soul would be with them.

She said she still saw her boyfriend’s face in her head and felt his presence around her.

Mr Richards read the poem Footprints in the Sand, before a song by the same name sung by Leona Lewis was played.

Mr Andrews’ brother-in-law, Marc Deakin read a tribute on behalf of Mr Andrews’ siblings, Carleigh, Gareth and Chris, recollecting their childhood memories and Mr Andrews’s love of Liverpool FC and rugby.

Rob Theobald, who attended Caldicot Comprehensive School with Mr Andrews, said being at school with Mr Andrews meant you had no choice but to enjoy yourself, and said although they had a mock Welsh/English rivalry when it came to rugby, Mr Andrews’s described him as the ‘safest English man’ he had ever met.

Mr Richards spoke of Mr Andrews’ love of music and dancing, before the coffin was carried out to the strains of Human by The Killers.

The service was followed by a private cremation and a wake at The Tippling Philosopher, Caldicot.

Hundreds joined search

MR ANDREWS went missing while attending an outdoor rave near Chagford on the edge of Dartmoor on May 22.

Hundreds of friends and family travelled to Devon to help search for him and more than 10,000 joined a group on social networking site, Facebook, appealing for information.

His family also put up banners at Glastonbury and in the village of Chagford to try to raise awareness of the search. A tribute page has also been set up on Facebook, which has almost 1,500 members.

Mr Andrews’ body was discovered in woodland close to Fernworthy Reservoir, where he was last seen, six weeks later.

Devon and Cornwall Police notified Mr Andrews’ family after a body was discovered on July 3.

A post-mortem examination was carried out last week before his family were told of the confirmed identity.

An inquest into his death, which is not being treated as suspicious, was opened at North Devon Coroner’s Court and adjourned pending further investigations.

The cause of death has not yet been released.