Police launch murder probe after human remains are found inside bags

A murder probe has been launched after human bones were found inside two black bin bags in a submerged shopping trolley at a river beauty spot in Suffolk.  

Suffolk police were called to the River Stour in Sudbury yesterday around 4.30pm after a bag of bones was found.

The incident is being treated as unexplained but police have confirmed the remains are human.

The bones were discovered by a wildlife ranger and police are now asking anyone who has seen anything suspicious in recent days to come forward.

Detectives believe that other people may have already seen the trolley and want to work out when it was dumped into the water. 

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Jones, of Suffolk police called for people to get in touch with any information.

‘There’s going to be a large crime scene in place there.

‘So there may be some disruption for local people while we investigate and look and do forensic inquiries to ascertain exactly what we have.

‘We would really like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity close to the river in recent days.

‘If people have seen or heard anything earlier, then please come forward. We’d much rather hear from you and be able to eliminate things, than you keep quiet and we don’t have some important information.

‘We will we look into the circumstances very carefully to examine exactly what we have. We also do a lot of checks to ascertain who it might be, if it is a person.’ 

‘We have a Home Office post-mortem, which will look into that and help us ascertain what we have.

‘At this stage, we’re certainly treating them as most likely to be human remains.

‘It is very concerning when something like this is found. We have to keep a very open mind about what we have, and about the circumstances.

‘As as we get the scientific information back, and as witnesses, hopefully, come forward, we build up a picture of what’s happened, and we’re able to direct our inquiries based on that information.’

A householder who lives opposite the river in the town once home to famed painter Thomas Gainsborough said she was stunned by the developments.

‘The police are working away busily here, but they won’t tell us anything about what’s going on.

‘They warned us that if we were to look out of our upstairs window we might see a bit of a gruesome sight but they’ve put the tent up now.

‘Forensics were down here working at the scene. It’s all very mysterious.’

A morning walker added: ‘This is absolutely awful.

‘It’s definitely not the sort of thing you expect to see here.’ 

A Suffolk police spokeswoman said: ‘Officers would like to speak to anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity close to the river, where the submerged shopping trolley and the bags containing the remains were discovered nearby.

‘Alternatively, anyone who has seen the bags in the river or knows how they came to be in the water or who uses the route regularly is asked to come forward with any relevant information.’

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Suffolk police, quoting reference 37/49998/20.