Human bones found in black bin bags dumped in a Suffolk river
28 August 2020, 18:47
A murder investigation has been launched after human bones were found in two black bin bags dumped in a river, Suffolk Police said.
Officers were called following the discovery in the River Stour between Meadow Gates and Croft Bridge in Sudbury on Thursday.
Police said a murder investigation had been launched due to the "suspicious circumstances" in which the bones were found.
A member of the public spotted the bags earlier on Thursday and reported them to a ranger, who discovered the bones inside.
One police cordon is in place around the area of the river where the bags were discovered, while a second is around where the bags were moved to by the ranger before he realised what was inside and contacted police.
A submerged shopping trolley was also found a "little further" along the river from where the bags were located, police said.
Inspector Kevin Horton, local policing commander for Sudbury, said: "We appreciate that local residents are likely to find this discovery alarming and as such we will be increasing police patrols in the town to provide reassurance.
"Officers are also likely to remain at the scene over the weekend and in to the early part of next week.
"Discoveries such as this are extremely rare, especially in Suffolk, and as such we do not believe there is any cause for concern to members of the public."
Police said forensic tests will be carried out on the bones over the coming days.
A post-mortem examination will take place on Saturday.
Mr Horton said: "We would ask anyone with information about this discovery to make contact with the major investigation team immediately.
"This includes anyone who believes they saw the bags in the river prior to yesterday afternoon, or saw the shopping trolley either in this location or elsewhere along the river."
Detectives have appealed for anyone with a dash cam who drove in the vicinity of the Croft since August 24 to contact them.
Anyone with information should contact Suffolk Police's major investigation team by calling 101.
