Shaun James forest murder inquiry: White van seized

The death of Shaun James featured on Crimewatch in December and prompted more than 50 calls

A white van police believe could be linked to the murder of a builder from the Forest of Dean 12 years ago has been seized by officers.

Shaun James, 32, was run down in Cinderford in 2002 shortly after leaving his local pub.

A cold case review has led Gloucestershire Police to believe Mr James was kidnapped before he was murdered.

Detectives said the van was being forensically examined.

Officers have been focusing their attention on trying to trace a white van they believe was in the vicinity of Steam Mills Road on the night of Mr James' death.

A van that featured in CCTV footage released last month has since been eliminated from their inquiries following help from the public.

£10,000 reward

"This development, and other inquiries, has led us to the seizure of another van which may be connected to Shaun's murder," Det Ch Insp Steve Porter said.

"There will be fingerprint analysis using a number of different methods and we will also be using treatments to establish if there is any blood or anything else in relation to Shaun James.

"What we'd like to do is either prove or disprove that the van was involved in the incident involving Shaun James and also to try and identify who was using the van back in 2002."

He said: "While it has been over 12 years since Shaun's death, forensic science has moved on a great deal in that time, which gives me hope we may recover evidence from the van.

"In the meantime can I please continue to appeal to people for more information. We're going to be handing out leaflets again this week in Cinderford, urging people to come forward, and I'm sure there are still people out there who know something but haven't talked to us yet.

"There is up to £10,000 available now in reward money and I would remind people that we have trained detectives in our incident room who can help allay any fears people may have."