Police renew appeal after Perranporth suspicious death

Update: Monday 3 March:

Detectives have released two more images in the hope they will help identify a man whose body was washed ashore on Perranporth beach.

A black and white woolly hat and a rucksack were both found on Perranporth Beach on the same day as the body.

The rucksack is described as blue/grey on the front and black/blue on the back. It has dark green webbing.

It is not known whether they belong to the man or if someone visiting the beach has lost them.

The set of keys also found by officers searching the area has been claimed by their owner and elimated from enquiries.

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Police in Cornwall are renewing their appeal for information from the public to help identify a man whose body was washed ashore on Perranporth beach.

A member of the public discovered the man’s body on the beach near to the Watering Hole bar at around 2pm on Tuesday 25 February.

Following a forensic post-mortem examination, conducted on Friday 28 February, the death is now being treated as suspicious.

Multiple injuries were found on the body which are inconsistent with drowning and cannot be easily explained.

The man is described as white, aged 50 to 70, and between 5ft 5ins and 5ft 7ins tall. He had white receding hair and a bushy white beard.

Police believe he was in the water for no more than 24 hours.

Detectives are trying to trace the owner of a set of keys, consisting of a Citroen car key, two mortice lock keys, a hippopotamus keyring and a red fob.

It is not known whether the keys are linked to the man. If they are not, officers would like to eliminate them from their enquiries.

Officers have previously released three other images in the hope they will help to identify the man. These include the exact brown walking shoe worn by the deceased.

Another is a photograph of a small boy which was found in a black wallet in the pocket of a dark navy-blue Regatta jacket. There was a date on the back of the photograph of 13 April 1952. It is unclear what this date refers to. It could be a date of birth or the date the photograph was taken.

The jacket was found on the beach on Wednesday 26 February and may or may not have belonged to the deceased.

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Thorne, Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “Finding out the identity of this man is key to the investigation. Without knowing who he is, it is very difficult to find out what happened to him and establish the circumstances surrounding his death.

“Perranporth is a small community which attracts a variety of people and we are hoping someone will have seen something that could unlock this mystery.

“If anyone knows who he is from the details given, or has seen someone on Perranporth beach on Monday or Tuesday last week matching his description, we’d like to hear from you.

“We also urge anyone with any information relating to the items found on the beach, however insignificant it may seem, to get in touch.”

Anyone with information that could assist with the investigation is asked to call police on 101, quoting log 381 of 1 March 2014, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.