Mystery burning body to be buried

A sketch of the murdered man who is still not identified

A mystery man whose body was found on fire is to be buried without having been identified.

It is the first time Cambridgeshire Police have released a body for a funeral before formal identification.

Detectives have been unable to name the victim, despite numerous appeals for help from the public.

The unknown man's body was dumped in a field at Upton, near Peterborough on the Cambridgeshire border with Northamptonshire just before Christmas 2002.

The man had been shot and stabbed before his body was set alight.

It is tragic that this man is to be buried without any family and friends to say goodbye to him - especially as theyt have no idea of his fate Acting Detective Chief Inspector Bert Dean

Acting Detective Chief Inspector Bert Dean said he believed someone who knew the man would soon come forward.

"If he is somebody who had been living away from home, I am sure there is somebody out there saying 'Why hasn't he been in touch with me?' and therefore we want people to come forward who have any suspicion about who he might be," he said.

"It is tragic that this man is to be buried without any family and friends to say goodbye to him - especially as they have no idea of his fate."

One theory was that he was an asylum seeker who had been working as a labourer on a local farm.

Police also think he could have been from Lithuania.

The graveside service will be at Eastfield Cemetery in Peterborough on 21 July.