Hackney Marshes mystery death: Fresh details released in hope of identifying man found in bushes

Police have little or no hope of identifying a man found dead on Hackney Marshes two years ago unless someone who knew him comes forward.

The man, believed to be in his 40s and south-east Asian, was discovered on December 7, 2015 among trees and bushes separating playing fields from the River Lea towpath.

Since then, detectives have been running regular checks against missing people across the country in the hope of identifying him – but have yet to get anywhere.

The man’s fingerprints have come up with no matches in the UK or on a database held by immigration.

When discovered his dental hygiene was poor and he had missing teeth, but dental records can only be checked against possible matches, and not against everyone on record.

Earlier this month Scotland Yard released an updated e-fit of the man created on a new, improved system to the one originally published after his death.

One possible identifying feature is “irregular scarring on his right thumb” which was found during a post-mortem.

Police say the man was 5ft 4in and 7st 4lbs. When found he was wearing several layers of clothing which included a black North Face jacket, a dark grey hooded top with a front zip and a white knitted V-neck jumper.

He was also wearing light blue jeans with orange seams and a small brown leather logo on the front right pocket, a black belt with a silver buckle, and black Lacoste trainers.

Anyone with information can contact police at Hackney Missing Persons Unit on 101 or contact Missing People on 116000.