Body’s identity remains a mystery, inquest is told

A GLORIA Hunniford TV audience ticket and an extra large pair of underpants were among the few items police had to try to identify a mystery corpse an inquest heard yesterday.

And the human remains were only discovered on a desolate moor eight years ago by a geography student Roger Proctor who was working on his dissertation.

The man’s bones were found by chance on Rombalds Moor between Silsden and Ilkley on November 2, 2003, Bradford Coroner’s Court heard. Detective Inspector John Mountain said no foul play was suspected.

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He told West Yorkshire Coroner Professor Paul Marks that despite extensive attempts to identify the man, who was believed to be aged between 55 and 60, no breakthrough had been possible.

He said a fresh DNA profile had been extracted last year but even with scientific advances identifying the remains was tantalisingly out of reach.

The coroner recorded an open verdict saying that it appeared that “the deceased on the balance of probabilities did take his own life”. A post mortem examination revealed evidence of a noose having been placed around his neck.

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