Another body part found

Police probing the murder of a man whose remains were found in three locations across two counties, were investigating a report today that another body part had been found.

Hertfordshire police were called by a member of the public at 12.43pm to a lay-by on the northbound carriageway of the A10 Puckeridge bypass after the grisly discovery was made, said a force spokeswoman.

It follows the discovery of a severed head in Asfordby, Leicestershire, last week, just days after an arm and a leg were found at separate locations in Hertfordshire.

The spokeswoman added: "The area has been cordoned off and the closure of lane one is in place.

"Detectives from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit, who are currently investigating the murder of a man whose body parts were found in Hertfordshire and Leicestershire, are currently at the scene.

"It's too early to say at this stage exactly what's been found and specialist forensic teams and search officers will be in attendance."

Post-mortem examination established that the head found near a makeshift cattle pen by a farmer on his land in Asfordby belonged to the same man whose leg and arm were discovered about 80 miles away in Hertfordshire, detectives told a press conference last week.

Those three finds were made by members of the public within the space of nine days and it is thought the parts had not been there long.

More than 100 officers from Leicestershire Police and the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit were assigned to the case and a national appeal for information was launched.

Today's discovery could help detectives to further build their profile of the murder victim.

They already know that the man suffered from eczema which caused his skin to "scale".

Discoloration in his skin pigmentation around the ankle also gave a "bleaching" effect.

He was white or Asian and between 5ft 6in and 5ft 10. His shoe size is believed to be between seven and nine.

A full DNA profile was obtained from post-mortem examinations, but it has not found a match on the national DNA database and examinations of the first three body parts have yet to establish a cause of death.

The head was discovered by farmer Tony Lomas in a field near woodland and a cemetery last Tuesday afternoon.

The left leg, with the foot attached, was discovered in a green holdall behind a hedgerow next to a lay-by on the A507 just outside Cottered on March 22.

The arm, which has been dismembered at the elbow and wrist, was found on March 29, about a 30-minute drive away, by a member of the public on a verge in Drovers Lane, Wheathampstead.

Police believe the leg was dumped within two days of its discovery and are now trying to establish if the other body parts were left at around the same time.