New details about headless body

The body was found in woodland near the A23 in Bolney in October 1991

Forensic tests on a body that was exhumed in Sussex as part of a murder inquiry have revealed new information about the identity of the victim.

The body was found with its head and hands removed in woodland off Broxmead Lane in Bolney in 1991 and the case was reopened in March this year.

Police said on an appeal on the BBC's Crimewatch programme they believed the man had been healthy and in his 30s.

Tests on bones have also shown where he spent a large part of his life.

Forensic experts tested a femur, rib bone and toenails from the corpse, which were not available 18 years ago.

Someone, somewhere must be missing a loved one Det Supt Andy Griffiths

During the BBC's Crimewatch programme on Thursday, Det Supt Andy Griffiths revealed the tests had shown the man could have spent some years in central or eastern Europe.

They also showed that during the last period of his life he had been living somewhere in the middle or eastern part of the UK or in Germany.

"This man was white, he was in his mid to late 30s, he was 5ft 6ins to 5ft 8ins tall.

"He was also circumcised and he was strongly built, but had a protruding belly," Det Supt Griffiths said.

He added that the man also had a star-shaped mark on his right thigh and was probably a smoker.

Police issued a picture of a shirt with a motif, identical to one the man wore

At the time of his death, he was wearing a blue shirt, with a motif on the pocket, and trousers. Both were from Fosters and were made in 1986.

The trousers, which were a 32 inch waist, had been turned up and were hand sewn.

"Our key priority is to identify this man.

"Someone, somewhere must be missing a loved one," Det Supt Griffiths said.

"By putting the case on Crimewatch, we hope that we will receive vital information that leads us to his identity and, ultimately, to his killer."

In March this year, the coffin containing the man's skeleton was lifted from a grave in Western Road Cemetery, Haywards Heath, where it had been buried in 1994.

A DNA sample was taken during the original inquiry in the 1990s but it failed to provide a match.

No cause of death was given at the time because the head and hands were missing.