Headphones Found In Mans Mouth
21 May 2014, 15:53 | Updated: 21 May 2014, 16:01
Alan Jeal's body was found on the 25th of February on Perranporth Beach. Today his family and the police are appealing for anyone who saw him to come forward.
The 64 year old's body was found on Tuesday 25 February with multiple injuries to his chest, head and hand. He suffered significant internal injuries, a flesh wound to his scalp and bleeding hand injuries.
There were some signs of possible drowning but it has not been confirmed as the cause of death.
The last known sighting of Alan was at a bus top at Lemon Quay in Truro at 6.50pm on Monday the 24th of February. Three other people were waiting to get on the bus along with Alan, which stopped at St Agnes, Perranporth and finally Newquay.
Police and Alan's family are asking those three people who were waiting at the bus stop to get in touch with them, as they can help trace his last movements.
It's thought Alan got onto the bus, but after trawling through hours of CCTV footage, Police have found no evidence of him getting off the bus later that evening.
Police have revealed that as well as the sock that was found in Alan's mouth, a pair of headphones were also looped around the sock, hanging out of his mouth. It's not known whether Alan or someone else put them there.
DCI Dave Thorne, Senior Investigating Officer, said: “Three months on and there are still some gaps in the information we have about Alan and his last movements.
“We are still treating his death as suspicious due to the extent of his injuries and the fact that he was found naked, with a sock and headphones in his mouth.
“There are a number of people we are keen to trace including three people seen with him at the bus stop in Truro who have not come forward yet".
Some of Alan’s belongings are still missing, including a Barclays Bank current account card, a Barclaycard credit card, a Nokia 1110i mobile phone, a third generation iPod shuffle and the rest of the clothing he was wearing.
Alan had recently purchased a 10kg weighted training vest and 2kg ankle weights but they have not been located. Detectives are trying to establish whether they were bought for him to wear or whether he bought them for another reason such as a gift for someone else.
Derek Jeal, Alan's brother says as a family, they just want to know what happened to him. He spoke to our reporter Carrian Jones.
Linda Danielis, Alan’s sister, has released the following tribute to Alan:
“Alan was a very fit man and in good health. He walked daily and would have been a great advert to the NHS as a man who looked after his heart. As a pensioner he lived well, as he required little of life's comforts to keep himself happy and amused. A roof over his head, a bed, hot water, a computer, the internet, some basic food and drink and his favourite music of the moment seemed to be all that he needed.
“It is difficult to imagine anyone would have envied anything that he had, except possibly for a few special mineral exhibits which illustrated a previous passion in geology and mining.
“Alan was frequently a watcher and reflective thinker and was not the sort of person people always noticed. He would have been the visible fly on the wall in the corner. He would have hoped, had he still been with us today, that other people were watching and listening where he was between 6.45pm in Truro on Monday 24 February on that evening where the heavens opened, and 2pm the next day when his body was found on Perranporth beach, having met an unseemly, untimely demise somehow and somewhere during this time.
“I was totally unprepared for his death and very shocked to hear about it. The fact that it is unexplained does not help me deal with the disbelief about what has happened. Clearly I never said goodbye or gave him a final treat of any kind. If something happened at the end where he needed help and support I was not there to help.
“I want to wake up and think it is all a nightmare but realise it is not and there is no happy ending. More than anything I want answers, realising that there is nothing I can do to bring him back.”