The Exmoor Body mystery concerns the remains of an unidentified murder victim found on Winsford Hill, near Winsford, Somerset on 13 March 2002. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
The body was discovered on moorland near Halse Lane on Winsford Hill in March 2002 by a park ranger who didn't open the bags and assumed they were animal remains. [1] [2] [3] [4] The remains were taken to the Devon and Somerset stag hounds kennels where there is an incinerator. [1] [2] [3] [4] After several days the bags were opened and the remains were discovered to be human. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Examination of the body showed that he was a man in his mid-20s to mid-30s. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] A distinctive gold pendant he wore with verse 255 from the Quran led investigators to consider that he may be a Muslim. [4]
He suffered injuries consistent with a violent death between late 1999 and 2000. He may have been buried on Exmoor at some time after May 2001. [4]
The body was buried in an Islamic funeral in a cemetery in Watchet. [3]
There were numerous appeals for information on his identity in 2002 including international inquiries as well as a TV reconstruction. [4] In 2017 a new appeal was launched as he still had not been identified, even though a full DNA profile had been created. [4]
