Fresh Bid To Identify Unknown Rail Dead

Fresh Bid To Identify Unknown Rail Dead
8:35am UK, Thursday August 19, 2010

Lulu Sinclair, Sky News Online

Two police groups have teamed up to try to identify 20 people whose bodies were found near the rail and Tube network over the past 35 years.


This man was hit by a train at Mile End Tube station on May 8, 1975


The National Policing Improvement Agency and British Transport Police commissioned an artist to compile sketches of 20 people - 18 males and two females - whose remains were found but who were never identified.

There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding any of the deaths.

"All these fatalities were fully investigated at the time and all clues followed up to try to establish an identity, but without success," said BTP's Detective Chief Superintendent Miles Flood.



A woman hit by a train at Victoria Tube station on January 13, 1975


"We are now taking another look to see if there is any more we can do, in some cases to see if advances in forensic techniques can help, and to appeal to the public to see if anyone recognises them.

"Most of these cases are from the greater London area, where people can often be quite isolated and transient, but one is from Coventry and another - a quite recent death - in Cornwall.

"Some of these people may have had an itinerant lifestyle, but it is likely that there are still relatives or friends who may recognise them and thought they had simply moved away."

The drawings have been made by Leeds-based police facial imaging specialist Sharon McDonagh. She is one of only a handful of accredited police artists on the NPIA's specialist database.



This man was hit by a train at Westbourne Park Tube in 1983


She said: "What I try to do is to recreate what the person would have looked like alive, to breathe life back into them if you like.

"The source material is a mortuary photograph, but the drawing is not just a reproduction. Rather these are interpretations that highlight certain characteristics, which people who knew the person will hopefully instantly recognise.

"Although I only have a picture of a face to work from, I use all the information about that person. If you know they are of slim build for instance that will affect the way you draw their face; if you know something about their background, you can get a feel for the person."

Anyone with any information about any of the people pictured is asked to call BTP on 0121 634 5613 quoting the drawing reference number.