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CLUE TO IDENTITY OF MYSTERY BODY
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BY PAUL BULL AND KELLY SHORROCK
[email protected]
09:30 - 06 September 2007
Police believe they may have identified body parts discovered by a dog in Derby wasteland.
The remains were found in bushes on wasteland between houses in Worcester Crescent and Keyhaven Close in Chaddesden on Tuesday.
Officers today said they thought they knew who the dead person was and had been speaking to relatives.
Detective Superintendent Tony Blockley said they believed the remains were of a Derby man in his 50s.
He said: "We think we have identified him but we are waiting for DNA results to confirm this.
"Early indications show that he is a local Derby man in his 50s and I would describe him as having a chaotic lifestyle.
"He would often move between addresses and disappear for weeks or months at a time."
When police were called to the scene on Tuesday, they discovered a skull and partially-clothed body parts.
They said there was no evidence yet to suggest foul play but they were not ruling anything out.
They said they were pursuing a number of lines of inquiry, including the suggestion that the dead person may have been sleeping rough.
It is thought the remains had been there for a number of months.
The alarm was raised when Rocko, a German shepherd who lives with his owner in Worcester Crescent, brought home a severed hand in his mouth.
His owner, who did not want to be named, said she had let him out, along with her other dog, a labrador called Kookey, in the garden just before 5pm on Tuesday.
The 41-year-old mother-of-three said: "Kookey came back in but Rocko appeared at the side window with something in his mouth. I thought, 'My God, that looks like a hand'."
Her 27-year-old partner said he then picked up the hand, using a towel, to examine it.
He said: "It looked like a left hand but with the thumb missing. I said we'd better phone the police.
"They said it could be a fox's paw but they'd come down. They were around in minutes with the blues and twos on."
The two officers then went to the corner of the garden and the bushes where Rocko had been.
It is thought the dog got out of the garden through a hole in the rear garden fence.
The woman householder said: "A female police officer moved some bushes out of the way, had a look, turned around and said, 'I've found a skull'.
"Then they said it was a crime scene and taped it all off.
"It's shocking. I'm in a state of disbelief - it hasn't fully sunk in yet.
"We've had to move out while the investigation continues. It's upsetting because we don't know what's happened to the person."
The woman's semi-detached property, a neighbouring house and surrounding land were cordoned off and forensics experts spent yesterday examining the scene.
Rocko's owner said where the body was found was overgrown and thick with brambles.
He said: "I can't understand why the body was there. If there had been anything down there, Kookey would have known about it. She barks at cats and foxes."
Detective Inspector Pat Parry, of Derby North CID, said: "At this point in time we have no evidence to suggest foul play.
"It's a methodical investigation into a body that's been found in unusual circumstances."
