Man's skeleton was hanging from tree for more than two years before being found
Police hope the latest advances in DNA technology will help
them to identify a man found in a shallow grave beside the A525 and a
man who hung undiscovered for
years from a tree on the Penrhyn Castle
Estate, as well as 15 other unidentified people found dead across North
Wales.
The cases are still being investigated by North Wales Police and relate to people whose remains were discovered between 1970 and 2011.
Under
Operation Orchid, officers are using the latest advances in DNA
technology in a bid to conclude enquiries and help bring some closure to
relatives of missing loved ones.
The most recent case relates to a man whose body was found by kayakers on a riverbank in Capel Curig in May 2011.
Police
have now released an e-fit of the male - believed to be aged between 50
and 60 - in a bid to jog the memories of friends or family members who
might be able to name him.
He is described as being of thin build
with a beard, short brown hair and a skin condition called vitiligo,
which causes patches of unpigmented skin.
Despite being slim with
a 26” waist size, his jeans were size 38” and the rest of his clothing
was large, which could indicate recent weight loss or the purchase of
items from a charity shop.
Detective Constable Don Kenyon said:
“Operation Orchid was set up in 2010 as it was realised that advances in
familial DNA technology could help to put names to previously
unidentified remains found in North Wales.
“Initially, we went
through our records with the National Missing Persons Bureau and found
that there were 17 bodies that had been buried unidentified in the
41-year period between 1970 and 2011.
“Twelve of the bodies were
discovered either in the sea or on the coastline. It is impossible to
say whether they came from within the UK or abroad.”
The oldest
case involves a man aged between 20 and 30, whose body was found hanging
from a tree in private woodland on the Penrhyn Castle Estate in Bangor
in May 1970.
Due to the level of decomposition, police say he had been hanged prior to 1968.
He
is described as 5ft 5” to 5ft 7”, was born between 1940 and 1950, and
was wearing a blue/green Menapparrel wool coat, a dark blue Alexander
brand suit, a green pullover, a blue shirt, brown suede fell boots
(Vacon make) and Falcon headwear - a peaked cap with zip fastener on the
side.
DC Kenyon added: “We know from recent cases that the
passage of time does not diminish the sense of loss in the families of
missing persons nor their desire to know what became of their loved
ones.
“The reality of ‘cold case’ investigations such as this is
that enquires tend to be spread out over months and years, so I deal
with them alongside my day-to-day workload.”
The investigation
initially concentrated on recovering the files relating to the found
bodies and reviewing the investigations conducted at the time to see if
there were any possible lines of enquiry.
Post mortem reports
relating to the bodies were also reviewed to see if a likely time of
death could be established and compared to missing person reports from
the time.
The process revealed a ream of possible identities
which were narrowed down by looking into the circumstances of the
person’s disappearance and last known locations.
“The first promising lead we had related to a male found off the Anglesey coast in December 1983,” said DC Kenyon.
“Our
missing persons enquiries revealed that a Norwegian sailor had fallen
overboard from a commercial vessel near Pembroke in October of that
year.
“The male’s clothing had European size labels and the dental records - as far as could be established - also matched.
“Enquires
with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency showed that the tidal flood in
the Irish Sea was consistent with the theory that the male could have
been washed towards Anglesey.”
Police traced the sailor’s family in Norway and the Norwegian police gained DNA samples from his surviving sons.
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