Exmoor Body mystery

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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]

Contents

Discovery

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]

Identification attempts

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]

Burial

The body was buried in an Islamic funeral in a cemetery in Watchet. [3]

Appeals

There were numerous appeals for information on his identity in 2002 including international enquiries 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]

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Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. Exmoor is more precisely defined as the area of the former ancient royal hunting forest, also called Exmoor, which was officially surveyed 1815–1818 as 18,810 acres (7,610 ha) in extent. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 km (34 mi) of the Bristol Channel coast. The total area of the Exmoor National Park is 692.8 km2 (267.5 sq mi), of which 71% is in Somerset and 29% in Devon.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Exmoor body remains mystery". BBC News. 15 March 2002. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Head 'reconstructed' in body inquiry". BBC News. 14 May 2002. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Alder, Chris (17 September 2006). "Mystery body to be laid to rest". Somerset County Gazette . Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Fresh appeal over Exmoor body mystery". BBC News. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 "Fresh appeal over Exmoor body". BBC News. 9 September 2002. Retrieved 21 April 2020.