Man arrested as remains are identified

A MAN has been arrested after human remains found at an industrial estate were identified.

The remains, found at the Whitehill Industrial Estate in Glenrothes in September last year, have been confirmed as those of 61-year-old man Kinglassie man Ean Coutts.

His death is being treated as suspicious and a 30-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death and released pending further inquiries.

Police are now carrying out searches of a number of addresses in the Glenrothes and Kinglassie areas.

Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Houliston, from Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team, said: “We received a significant number of responses following the release of the facial reconstruction.

“I would like to thank all those who contacted us.

“This has allowed us to identify the man as Ean Coutts and my thoughts are with his family at this time.

“Ean had lived in Kinglassie for a number of years and was well known in the village.

“We are treating his death as suspicious and officers will be carrying out inquiries in the area as part of our ongoing investigation.

“I am appealing to anyone who knew Ean, who may have had any contact with him from around August 2019, or who has information that could assist with our investigation to contact us urgently.”

If you can help call 101, quoting incident number 2692 of Sunday September 27 last year, or email operationrimau@scotland. pnn.police.uk or contact the Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP) website via mipp. police.uk/operation/SCOT20S26-PO1

Alternatively, anyone wishing to pass on information anonymously can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.