Man still unidentified after bones found in 2020

Bin bags containing bones were recovered from the River Stour on 27 August 2020

A murder victim whose partial remains were recovered from a river is yet to be identified, five years after the discovery.

Body parts including a piece of skull were found in black bin bags in the River Stour in Sudbury, Suffolk on 27 August 2020, sparking a murder inquiry.

Police believe he was a man in his late 50s to early 60s and was likely targeted by an organised crime group, but who he was - and who killed him - remains a mystery.

"Without a breakthrough on who the victim is, further inquiries linked to them and their associates is obviously not possible," said Det Supt Mike Brown.

One of the black bin bags contained a white Thing-Me-Bobs carrier bag and bricks

Two black bin bags were spotted in the river, near Meadow Gate and Croft Bridge, by a member of the public before a third bag was found in a police search.

Details of the body parts were not disclosed at the time, but police revealed more as the investigation continued and the mystery deepened.

"The way the body was dismembered and the fact the hands are missing bear the hallmarks of being done very deliberately and by people who knew what they were doing," said Det Supt Brown in 2023.

It was announced the bags had contained a man's skull and jaw; the right and left arm bones, partial wrist bones and the complete lower right and left legs, including the feet.

The arms, legs and feet were partially mummified and there was a healed fracture to one of the wrist bones. His hands had been cut off.

The bones had been cleanly dismembered at the joints, with the lacerations on the skull not believed to be the cause of death, police said.

Radiocarbon dating revealed he had died between 2008 and 2012.

A vague picture of the victim began to emerge after forensic tests.

He was white, of north European descent, about 5ft 6in (1.67m) to 5ft 9in (1.75m), medium build with blond hair when born, and likely to have been of an athletic or muscular build.

Decorative stones were found within a Boots carrier bag in a second bin bag

The parts had been stored in dry, airless conditions before being dumped in the river, where they had not been for long, police said.

Alongside the body parts was a brand of commercial air freshener blocks that became obsolete in 2011.

The bin bags also contained bricks and decorative stones within carrier bags, including ones branded 'Thing-Me-Bobs' and Boots.

At the fifth anniversary, Det Supt Brown said Suffolk Police had undertaken "a vast number of inquiries", including forensic, CCTV and house-to-house in Sudbury.

A kind of commercial air freshener block that became obsolete in 2011 were dumped with the human remains

"The DNA profile of the victim has been compared on both UK and international databases but, despite this, the victim remains unidentified," he said.

"We have also utilised the help of the National Crime Agency, regional partners and other specialists and experts from across the country."

"Our leading hypothesis remains that we believe the deceased was likely to have been the victim of organised crime.

"I would continue to urge anyone who believes they have information that could assist us to please make contact without further delay."

A 26-year-old man, from Sudbury, was arrested in 2021 in connection with the inquiry and released with no further action.

Police said the victim's identity was still a mystery despite extensive work