Updated 5.55pm with photos 

Relatives have confirmed that a corpse found at Dingli Cliffs this morning was that of missing German teenager Mike Mansholt.

"He's gone in some way. But in many others, he's here, he's with us. In so many ways he'll always be with us. You are always with us, Mike," they said in a Facebook post.

Mike Mansholt.

The grim discovery was made at 10am by members of the Civil Protection Department, about 10 storeys below road level near the Magdalene Chapel. A bicycle matching that used by Mansholt was found a few metres away.

Mike Mansholt, 17, an adventurer and climber, had not been heard from since Monday last week. Searches for him were launched when he was reported missing on Friday.

News of the discovery broke as members of the Mansholt family were addressing a press conference appealing for volunteers to join the search. They were taken to the site shortly after.

The body was found in a crevice, and recovering it was a tricky operation that took hours.

Mike Mansholt's brother Daniel. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina