Sudbury: Body dumped in River Stour with air fresheners 'may have been victim of organised crime'

Unidentified human remains dumped in a river with air fresheners could belong to a victim of organised crime, detectives said as they launched an appeal on Crimewatch.

The male victim's bones were discovered by a member of the public inside black bin bags on 27 August 2020 in the River Stour, Sudbury.

As well as the bones, hidden inside the black bags were Boots carrier bags, public toilet air fresheners and bricks to weigh them down.

Three years on from the grim discovery, Suffolk Police have not identified the victim, who is thought to have been murdered up to 15 years ago.

A Crimewatch reconstruction of how the remains were found and what the victim may have looked like (Credit: BBC Crimewatch Live)

Appealing on BBC's Crimewatch on Friday, Det Supt Mike Brown said: “This was someone’s loved one. This was somebody’s family member.

"There will be people out there who will be missing them. Until we identify them we can't bring justice to their family.”

The detectives are working on three potential reasons for the body being dumped in the river.

They include suspected organised crime, a family member claiming benefits fraud for a dead relative, and someone starting building work and throwing the bones away to avoid delays.

Det Supt Brown said the "expertise" shown in the dismemberment of the body made organised crime a plausible lead.

Detailing how the remains were found, the detective said park ramblers spotted the bags, and then called park rangers.

The rangers contacted police after opening the “quite heavy” bags with “quite a strong chemical smell”.

The arms of the man were found bent into the first bag and legs in the second, with the feet pushed towards the shins.

Dive teams found another bag in the river, with more bone fragments such as the man's nose and a jaw with only two teeth.

On the bones, there were around 27 "quite deep lacerations caused by a heavy bladed weapon", but these are not thought to be the cause of death.

Police said the skull also appeared to have injuries and there was a "serious level of violence" when the man was killed.

However, while the bones were put in the river around seven to ten days before they were found, the victim's murder was not recent.

The branding on the Boots carrier bags matches branding for between 2008 and 2010.

Police therefore believe the victim died between 2008 and 2012, with the body stored elsewhere before being dumped in the river years later.

The description of the victim is a white man in his late 50s to early 60s, who was around 5ft 6ins to 5ft 9ins, of North European ancestry, had blue or green eyes, and blonde hair at birth.

DNA checks have not found a match to any missing person.

Det Supt Brown said: "I would really like to hear from anybody who remembers the person as per the description. Maybe they dropped off the radar and you stopped seeing them.

"It's important to let their loved ones know and we need the missing piece of the jigsaw."

In September 2022, two potential witnesses to the bags being dumped in the river came forward as part of the force's two year anniversary appeal.

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