Dead man's face reconstructed

The man's face has been reconstructed

Detectives hope a facial reconstruction will help identify a man whose body was found in woods in Northampton.

A child taking part in a woodland cleanup found the man's body at Lings Wood on 29 September last year.

Post mortem examinations have failed to establish a cause of death, but police do not believe it was suspicious.

Now, Auriole Prince, an FBI-trained forensic artist with the National Missing Person's Helpline, has reconstructed the man's face using his skull and jaw bone in a bid to identify him and a picture of it was released on Monday.

Detective Inspector Tom Manson, from Northamptonshire Police, said: "Forensic artists at the National Missing Person's Helpline have created an image of what this man may have looked like.

"We hope that members of the public might recognise him from his features, or know of someone who has been missing since at least September 2002, who it potentially could be.

"The man was a white man, so people should not be put off by the darker colour of the reconstruction.

A blue rucksack and a sleeping bag were found by the man's body

"Someone must know who this man is. We are appealing for anyone who thinks they might know who the man is, or anyone who is aware of someone who has been missing since September last year who is of a similar description to this man, to contact us.

"We are very grateful to the National Missing Person's Helpline which has provided this service free of charge."

A DNA profile has been established for the man, but his features were decomposed due to the length of time he is believed to have been in the woods.

He is thought to be a white European, aged between 30 and 50 years old, and 5 ft 8 ins to 6 ft tall, with straight black hair.

He was found wearing a dark long-sleeved top over a dark polo shirt and black jogging bottoms with a small zip pocket and the word Petroleum on them.

He was also wearing blue, white and yellow New Balance trainers.

A green and blue Torille 40 Outbound Jetflow rucksack and a beige sleeping bag with a fleecy lining were found near the man's body and may have belonged to him.