Mystery man whose dismembered remains were found in Suffolk river died after 'violent assault'

An unidentified man whose dismembered remains were found in weighted bin bags in a Suffolk river died after a "violent assault", a coroner has concluded.

The mystery man was given the name Croft Man for the purposes of the inquest. His remains were discovered in the River Stour near Croft, part of the town of Sudbury, in August 2020.

Two mummified legs and feet and two mummified arms without hands in black bin bags were found by a dog walker.

Two days later, police divers found skull fragments, facial bones and two loose teeth in a thin blue plastic bag 150 metres further along the river.

Suffolk's senior coroner Nigel Parsley recorded that the Croft Man died from a "violent assault" at an inquest into his death in Ipswich on Tuesday.

The removal of the man's hands and the injuries to his head and face "appear to have been an attempt to hamper his identification," Mr Parsley said, adding it was "more likely than not the Croft Man was unlawfully killed".

Investigators have been unable to identify the man, despite searching national and international missing persons databases and looking into relevant criminal activity.

Radiocarbon dating suggested he was born before the early 1950s and died in about 2008 to 2012, so was probably in his late 60s to 70s when he died, the coroner said.

"We must remember that the Croft Man was somebody's son. He lived for 60 to 70 years. He may well have had family; he almost certainly had friends.

"It's a tragedy we cannot identify him as there must be some loved ones somewhere wondering where their loved one is."

Superintendent Mike Brown of Suffolk Police said DNA testing indicated the two sets of remains were the same person, thought to be a white northern European male, likely to have been born with blonde or light hair which may have darkened naturally, and blue or green eyes.

Identifying the victim is "the biggest challenge" detectives face, he said, adding that the bags were left at the site between 13 August and 19 August.

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Dog walker Julie Dunn-Beechin said in a statement read to the hearing that she saw two black bin bags in the water on a stretch of the River Stour by water meadows on 27 August, 2020.

She said her dogs began sniffing nearby and something "didn't seem right to me".

Park ranger Samuel Morgan, whom she called, said: "She said she didn't know if she had been watching too many Midsomer Murders and had a concern about what could be in the bags."

He said the bags had rocks and bricks in and "what looked like a Toilet Duck soap that had partly dissolved".

Mr Morgan said he saw "through a small hole in the bag what I thought looked like mummified skin and bone" and what appeared to be the ball joint of an arm, and he called police.

(c) Sky News 2026: Mystery man whose dismembered remains were found in Suffolk river died after 'violent assault'