Human Remains Found In Field

26 April 2011, 12:36 | Updated: 27 April 2011, 14:24

A Post Mortem Examination on human remains that were found in a field in Northamptonshire on Easter Monday has proved inconclusive.

Police say they know the body is that of a man aged between 20 and 30-years-old, who was between 5ft 6ins and 5ft 8ins tall and of slight build.

But the tests didn't reveal how the man died or what his ethnicity was.

More tests will now be carried out, which could take several days, or possibly weeks.

Detective Superintendent Glyn Timmins, who is leading the investigation into the man's death, said:

"This remains an unexplained death pending the outcome of further tests that now need to be carried out.
 
"The anthropology was successful, in that we were able to re-construct the skeleton almost fully, but some specialist work still needs to be done to give us the answers we require.
 
"We have already received some useful reports from members of the public with regard to abandoned clothing found in the area where the remains were discovered, and about matters that have recently been reported to the police in the Rothersthorpe area.
 
"The incident room remains open, so if you have information that you think may be useful to us then please ring on 03000 111 222 xt 5309, quoting Operation Minehead.
 
"Search teams will be back in the field today searching a wider area than before and we have been contacting other forces to make enquiries about people who may have disappeared in unexplained circumstances."

Northamptonshire Police were called to the field in Rothersthorpe at about 10.45am on Monday after the discovery was made by a woman walking her dog in a field of elephant grass in farmland off the road between Gayton and Rothersthorpe.

Clothing, thought to be linked to the discovery of the remains, has also been recovered by search teams, police said. They include a grey singlet vest with white piping around the shoulders and neck stamped with Cedarwood State - a Primark brand. Also recovered were a pair of boxer shorts with a Peacocks label and a pair of "very worn'' size eight Nike Air trainers with white uppers, black soles and inserts marked Beckets.

Superintendent Glyn Timmins said: "We are appealing for anyone with information about this incident to come forward. '

'We are presently treating this death as unexplained. We believe the body to be that of a man and the nature of the investigation, in terms of establishing his identity and how he died, may take some time.

"We believe the body may have lain in the field for some time, maybe up to a year, and that because of the nature of the location - close to the M1 and the canal network - that this man might not be local to the area. It is also distinctly possible that this may not be someone who has formally been reported as missing.''

Mr Timmins urged anyone with any information about who the man could be, how he came to die and how he came to be in the field, to get in touch.