Bid to identify body parts victim

Apr 14 2009

Detectives hunting the killers of a man whose body parts have been dumped in the countryside will recreate the victim's face this week.

Officers have been unable to identify the man despite amassing forensic evidence as his remains came to light in a gruesome series of discoveries.

Specialists will be brought in to reconstruct the features of the white or Asian man in the hope of learning more about his background.

Only the man's hands remain to be found after his right arm, upper left arm and torso were recovered from a ditch on Saturday evening.

The badly-decomposed remains, the fifth grim discovery, were spotted by a walker in Gore Lane, near the old A10 in Standon, in east Hertfordshire.

Detective Chief Inspector Michael Hanlon, who is leading the inquiry, is due to reveal that officers have found fresh evidence.

More than 100 officers are working on the probe, known as Operation Athena, including detectives from Leicestershire and the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire major crime units.

But because of the poor condition of the remains, senior officers have yet to identify a cause of death during the 24-day investigation.

They have brought in crime mapping experts and behavioural psychologists as detectives continue to try to trace the victim on the national missing persons register.

The murder inquiry began when a left leg and foot were found in a green holdall in a lay-by on the A507 in Cottered, Hertfordshire, on March 22.