'This is someone’s son': Police issue fresh appeal over mystery body discovered in Powys reservoir one year on
Police have issued a renewed appeal for information a year after a body was found at a Powys reservoir.
Following 12 months of enquiries, Dyfed-Powys Police says it has not yet been able to identify the man who was found dead at Claerwen Reservoir in the Elan Valley.
As the anniversary of the discovery approaches, the force is asking the public to come forward with any information that might help.
This includes a nationwide appeal on BBC Crimewatch Live, airing on BBC One at 10.45am on Friday, October 24.
Detective Inspector Anthea Ponting, who has led the investigation, said: “This is a highly unusual situation, that a year after a person has been found deceased we have not been able to positively identify them.
“We have followed a number of lines of enquiry, but we are no closer to finding out who this man is, where he came from, or how he came to lose his life.
“This is someone’s son, possibly someone’s partner, brother or father, and we would like to be able to return them to any family or loved ones who might be missing them.
“Any information you have could be key in finding out who they are.”
Dyfed-Powys Police’s control room received a 999 call at just before 8.30am on October 18, 2024, reporting that the body of a man had been seen in the water by a walker.
Emergency services quickly made their way to the scene, which was in a remote part of the reservoir, and recovered the body.
Through a post-mortem it was found that the body was of a man aged between 30 and 60, who was 6ft tall.
It is estimated that the body had been in the water for up to 12 weeks.
In the absence of any personal belongings found around the reservoir, and no watch or jewellery being worn by the man, the only item available to officers to carry out enquiries was a wetsuit.
DI Ponting said: “The man was wearing an extra large Zone 3 Agile wetsuit , which equates to the wearer possibly being 6ft to 6ft 5in tall, around 202lbs to 220lbs, with a 44in to 48in chest.
“Apart from that, we have no other information or details about personal belongings that might help to identify him.
“There were no vehicles, bikes or other modes of transport in the area that might have indicated how he got there, or that we could have used to establish a route of travel.”
Over the past 12 months, officers have checked his description against lists of missing people from Dyfed-Powys and all other UK police force areas, liaised with international police and conducted enquiries with fingerprint and DNA databases.
But, all lines of enquiry have drawn a blank.
“There must be someone out there who is missing this person,” DI Ponting said. “If you think you can help us identify him, please get in touch.”
If you visited Claerwen Reservoir between July and October 18, 2024, and saw anything that might help enquiries, or you are aware of someone who has not been seen for some time and matches the description above, contact Dyfed-Powys Police in one of the following ways online, by e-mailing 101@dyfed-powys.police.uk, or calling 101.
