Murder victim is identified after 16 years

A MURDER victim has been identified by police — more than 15 years after his skeleton was discovered.

The bones were found on farmland in Charnock Richard, Lancashire, on July 26, 2002.

Police launched a major murder investigation after the find but the identity of the victim was remained a mystery until now. Lancashire Police said advances in DNA technology meant they had been able to identify the body as Darren Carley (right), who went missing from his home in Swindon, nearly 200 miles from where his remains were found, in January 2002.

A post-mortem revealed the 24-year-old’s cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head.

A fresh murder investigation has now been launched by police. Detective Chief Inspector Geoff Hurst of Lancashire Constabulary’s major investigation team said: “While this investigation has never been closed, we now have a renewed focus on finding who killed Darren and piecing together exactly what happened to him after he went missing and how his body came to be in Lancashire.

“We have a sixmonth gap between him being reported missing and his body being found and we’re appealing for anyone who had contact with him between January and July 2002 to come forward. Any information, no matter how small, could prove to be significant.”

Mr Carley’s body had been buried at Chorley Cemetery but since the identification it has been exhumed and returned to his family in Wiltshire. Anyone with information should contact police on 101, ask for Lancashire Police and quote log number 456 of October 4 or independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.