Sutton murder investigation: Police rule out two more potential victims in bones find

Bones were discovered in a field on Coxmoor Lane in Sutton on April 26.

Initially, police thought the body might be that of Robin Barrows Spencer, who reported missing in June 2004 and whose body had never been found.

But, speaking at a press conference at Nottinghamshire Police headquarters today, Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin confirmed that, not only were the bones not those of Mr Barrows Spencer, but police have also ruled out the prospect of the body being those of two more missing people, Bogdan Nawrocki, who was killed by his housemate in 2015, and Bulwell man James Brodie, who has been missing since since 2003.

Police are, however, treating the discovery of the bones as a murder investigation.

Mr Griffin said: "We are able to say it is murder for two reasons, firstly because the body is display a number of signs of trauma injury, although we are not able to say at this time what the cause of death was.

“The second reason is the very obvious circumstances in which this person was found.

“To describe it as a grave would be accurate, it is between four and six feet deep so very obviously, someone intended to bury them there.

“We are not able to say at this point whether this was the scene of the murder or whether there was another location for the murder and the deceased was removed to there and buried afterwards.

Mr Griffin said it was impossible to say with any certainty that the bones were those of a local person, either to Ashfield or Nottinghamshire.

However, he added that there were clues that could point to it potentially being a local victim, in that the site was off the beaten track and the woods next to it were widely used but the field was not.

He said: “It has the hallmarks of somebody who knows the area, so the deceased could be from the area but we’re not closed to that, we’re staying open-minded.

One thing police did confirm was that there was only one person found at the site, quashing online speculation that there was more than one set of bones found.

Mr Griffin went on to say he believed the body had been buried there for “at least five years and probably more than that”.

However, some items of clothing remained, notably a shoe and a pair of socks which police have now released images of in the hope of jogging someone’s memory.

And police again reiterated their appeal for anyone with any information to come forward.

Mr Griffin said: “Any information is useful but specifically, do you know who this person might be, have you heard reports of people who went missing a long time ago or have you picked up any information that someone has been killed or buried.

"I know that’s the throwing the net very wide, but that is the intention – if you have information, come forward and let trained officers assess how important it is.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 0800 096 0095, or at mipp.police.uk/operation/33EM22E48-PO1