Clocaenog Forest Man
Discovery of the body
The remains were found on the evening of 14 November 2015 by two brothers. Andrew and Mark Middle were camping in Cloceanog Forest during the
2015 Wales Rally GB which they were spectating. It was dark and Mark was using a torch to look for firewood in the woods when he found a skull on the forest floor and after a closer inspection realised it was human. The skull was covered in moss and was largely concealed by the undergrowth.
North Wales Police were notified of the discovery at 20:35. A local officer attended the scene and concluded that the brothers had found the fully decomposed remains of a human male.
Based on tree growth, body decomposition and the fact that the area of the forest where the victim was found was planted in 1985, the police believe that the body was deposited between 1995 and 2005.
The remains were found close to one of the Clocaenog sections of the rally and near to Pentre-llyn-Cymmer and
Llyn Brenig. The
deposition location of the body was easily accessible as it was only few metres from two forest roads. The location of the discovery was known to be near to the murder and burial location of Edward Carthy, who, at 28, was the youngest victim of serial killer
Peter Moore.
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Initial investigation
After the discovery, the police started a large-scale search of the forest which took five weeks. The police uncovered an almost entire skeleton of a human male. The majority of the skeleton was discovered beneath in dense trees and undergrowth a few metres away from the location of the skull. The remains were removed two days after the discovery and taken away to be examined by a pathologist.
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Description of the victim
It is likely that the man would have been born before 1950 and aged over 54 at the time of his death and most likely in his 60s. He would have been 'well-built' in life and would have had a height of between 5ft 8in and 5ft 10.5in (1.73–1.78m).
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The victim had lost a number of teeth during life which would have resulted in sunken cheeks. All the victim's posterior
molar teeth were absent which suggests that he was not dentally-aware early in his life; however, this appeared to be followed by a sudden change of circumstance due to extensive dental work of very high quality completed later in life. Police stated that the victim had undergone two identifiable dental procedures in life. The first was that the victim had a number of crowns to his front teeth, work which appeared to have been done in the UK between 1980 and 2000. The second procedure was an uncommon procedure: a remedial filling to a temporary plastic
crown which had been badly worn. John Rosie, a forensic
odontologist, stated that, as the dental work was highly distinctive and involved specialist work, it could allow a dentist to identify the victim. Information regarding the victim's dental work was published in dentistry journals by the police.
Some items of clothing were found near to the body but it could not be confirmed that they were associated with the victim. These items were: a dark green
Pringle jumper and some dark red decomposed
Marks and Spencer underwear. The underwear was manufactured in 1999 and Pringle of Scotland confirmed that the jumper was produced between 2000 and 2004.
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Subsequent investigations
In June 2016, the police released a photograph of the victim's jawbone in the hope that dentists may recognise their dental work and therefore identify the victim. The police also announced that they were undertaking
familial DNA research.
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in March 2017, the police confirmed that they had been contacted by, and met with, serial killer
Peter Moore following his claims that he knew the identity of Clocaenog Forest Man. Moore claimed in a letter that the victim was a mature student at
Aberystwyth University who had disappeared in 1996. Moore did not disclose the victim's name but
Daily Post journalists identified a Roger Evans of
Bradeley near
Stoke-on-Trent who disappeared on 16 January 1996, aged 46, during his first year at Aberystwyth University. Moore later stated that his theory had been discounted by the police due to conflicting dates.
Clocaenog Forest Man - Wikipedia
PS: Adding link to Roger Evans case for those who are curious-
The Doe Network: Case File 2311DMUK . While location seems to be close, he does seem to be youngish compared to this John Doe.