Twist in mystery over body found in reservoir leads inquest in new direction
The man was found two years ago but has still not been identifed
The mystery of a dead man found in a Welsh reservoir has intensified after initial police findings into his ethnicity are under question.
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The body of an unknown man was discovered at the Claerwen Reservoir near Rhayader, Powys, in October 2024.
Although police initially believed him to be of white European descent, written evidence given to the inquest by forensic orthodontist Dr. Sally Andrew states that he “may not have been of white ethnicity,” following an examination of his teeth and jaw.
The man was discovered by a dog walker and was wearing a wetsuit popular among triathletes and open water swimmers. And, despite being found two years ago, nobody has come forward with information on his identity.
The wetsuit had a tag attached, but scientific support officers were unable to determine whether the tag had a name on it.
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Police believe he was in the water for up to 12 weeks before he was found. In order to make an image of his face for enquiries, Dyfed-Powys Police worked with Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University to try and build a realistic picture of the man.
However, this image was based on the belief that the man was “aged between 30 and 60, around 6ft (1.83m), weighing between 202lbs and 220lbs (91.5kg - 99.5kg), and of white European descent.”
The image did not result in significant leads, and it is unclear if it will continue to be used now that his ethnicity is in question.
Coroner Patricia Morgan has told police to analyse a piece of the man’s liver which was taken two years ago but never sent for examination.
Tests of his liver could uncover whether he was killed before entering the water.
His DNA was tested by police, but the inquiry heard the force only sent his DNA to police databases, instead of commercial labs. This is because the force was told it would involve significant resources, and yield potentially thousands of results.
Detective Inspector Anthea Ponting told the inquest that despite the National Crime Agency saying it could filter some of the results, they would still be left with “a large number of results and a large number of officer hours to work through.”
This is why the force opted for facial recognition instead.
Investigators’ jobs have been made harder by the fact the unidentified man had no distinguishable scars, or tattoos. Nor did he have any identification documents on him, or a vehicle parked nearby which could be linked to him.