Body parts 'not missing mother'

Louise Tiffney was last seen in the city in May 2002

Police investigating the discovery of human remains in Edinburgh said they do not belong to a woman who disappeared from the city eight years ago.

Louise Tiffney was last seen leaving her home in Dean Village in May 2002. Her body has never been found.

A murder charge against her son Sean Flynn was found not proven in 2005.

Officers have been examining missing person files after the discovery of a head in an Ikea bag near a footpath in Newhaven on 31 December 2008.

Lothian and Borders Police were able to confirm the remains were female through examining dental records, but have yet to determine when the person died.

A number of bones were found in other bags nearby, which officers have said all appear to belong to the same person.

The force said tests being carried out on the remains to establish the cause of death, identity and ethnicity may take considerable time.

In a statement, it said no families of missing persons from the area had been contacted.

It added that while the investigation under way resembled that of a murder inquiry, the death was being treated as suspicious.