Police plea after river body find (From Free Press Series)

Police plea after river body find

POLICE are appealing for information to help identify the body of a man found in the River Wye.

The body was discovered by a local teacher on March 10 at around 3.30pm at Wintours Leap in the Forest of Dean section of the river.

But despite active investigations officers have been unable to ascertain the identity of the man.

Searches have been made against the National Missing Persons register and finger prints have been taken from the body to search against the National Database in a bid to discover who the man is, but without success.

The man's death is currently being treated as unexplained.

As the Wye valley and Forest of Dean are tourist attractions that attract visitors from around the country the man may not have been local.

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Detective Sergeant Dave Fryatt, who is leading the investigation, said: "This man deserves to be buried with his name and his family and friends should have the opportunity to pay their last respects.

"There will be relatives who deserve to know what has happened to their son, brother, father or friend and not be tormented for the rest of their lives worrying or wondering what has happened to that missing person."

The man is described as a white male, 5' 10" to six feet tall, of stocky build and weighing around 13st 12lbs.

He was aged between 25 and 50 and had thick short black hair on his head, chest and legs. He had stubble on his face but not a full beard or moustache and did not have any scars or tattoos or evidence of previous surgery.

The man had no identity documents about his person and the only other identifying feature was that he had slightly protruding upper front teeth and a more noticeable protruding right upper canine tooth. It is thought he died between one and two weeks before the body was discovered.

"People who have already reported a friend or relative to the police as missing should not repeat that report but they may add new information to that report, and anyone who recognises the profile and clothing the man was wearing and has not seen that person for some time should contact police," added DS Fryatt.

Anyone who might know the identity of the man or who might have any information about him is asked to contact Gloucestershire Police on 0845 090 1234.