PARIS - A body which appears to be that of a missing Defense Ministry official has been found in a river in northern France, police said on Wednesday.

A police official said an autopsy and tests would be carried out to verify whether the body belonged to David Dahan, head of the Defense Ministry Mission to Europe, who disappeared from his Paris home last month.

Dahan's car was found last month by the river Seine in the northern city of Rouen day with no signs of violence to the vehicle.

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Police sources said that notes left by Dahan indicated that he may have been contemplating suicide. One police source said Dahan had asked for "forgiveness" in one letter, adding that he had suffered depression in the past.

Dahan's wife and child live in Israel.

The Defense Ministry Mission buys military equipment in Europe. The mission used to be based in central Paris but was hit by a car bomb in 1982 and is now situated in a suburb.