Police await DNA test results of human head found in Mepal, Cambridgeshire
Mick George Quarry Block Fen Mepal. Picture: Steve Williams. - Credit: Archant
Police looking to identify a person whose head was found in a skip in Mepal have ruled out using a forensic artist for the time being.
Officers are still awaiting DNA results after a post mortem proved inconclusive in determining whether the head was male and female.
The gruesome discovery was made last Monday afternoon by a workman employed by Mick George Ltd at the quarry.
A police spokesman said: “We are waiting on DNA testing results but we don’t expect to have that back before the end of this week.
“We continue to work with specialists to establish the gender and identity of the deceased.
“Searches at the quarry have been completed and a scene is no longer on at the Sharnbrook site.
“However, we are working with the British Transport Police to conduct searches of the railway line.”
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In relation to national reports that forensic artists are involved in the investigation, the spokesman said: “We made contact with the National Crime Agency’s missing person’s team last week to assist in trying to identify who the person is.
“However, as the lead investigating agency, we have not made any decisions around the want or need for anybody to create an impression of what the person may look like.
“Other work around gathering DNA and dental sampling is already underway by the Beds, Cambs and Herts Major Crime Unit.”
Additionally, police are not ruling out that it could have been a suicide on the railway tracks.
“That could well be one theory,” said the police spokesman.
“Unfortunately at this stage we are not able to narrow it down and specify the type of inquiry.
“It could be murder, it could be suicide or an accident such as being hit by a train, but we are keeping an open mind.”
Last week a colleague told journalists the workman who found the head “first thought was that it was a mannequin’s head.
“But then he realised it had eyebrows and hair, and suddenly clicked that it was actually a woman’s head.
“He said it had blood all over and was covered in dirt, but didn’t look like it had disintegrated.”
A post mortem concluded the person died at least 17 months ago - before January 1 2015.
Inquiries are ongoing.
