DETECTIVE Chief Inspector Michael Hanlon spoke to the Herts Advertiser today (Friday) about the murder investigation revolving around the gruesome discoveries of three body parts – two of which were found locally. Detectives announced this morning that a

DETECTIVE Chief Inspector Michael Hanlon spoke to the Herts Advertiser today (Friday) about the murder investigation revolving around the gruesome discoveries of three body parts - two of which were found locally.

Detectives announced this morning that a severed human head found in Leicestershire is from the same victim whose arm was found in Wheathampstead on Sunday and whose leg was found the previous weekend in Cottered, near Baldock.

Police in Herts and Leicestershire confirmed that they had launched a joint murder inquiry but the identity of the victim still remains a mystery.

DNA tests have however revealed he was an adult male of white or Asian ethnicity who was probably between 5ft 6ins and 5ft 10ins in height. He had distinctive pigmentation around his ankle and eczema on his leg.

Further forensic tests should narrow down his ethnicity.

Speaking after the joint press conference held in Leicestershire this morning, DCI Hanlon urged anyone who knew someone fitting the description and who had not been seen since early March, to contact the police.

He said that while the identity remained unknown, detectives were continuing to plough through missing persons files across a wide geographical area.

Police are continuing to search the area where the head was found in Asfordby but DCI Hanlon said the search around where the arm was found in Drovers Lane on Nomansland Common had been concluded and nothing further was revealed. He added that the police could not rule out the possibility that an animal had moved the arm to the area from a different location.

DCI Hanlon said that the murder was likely to have been targeted due to the lengths the culprit had gone to in disposing of the body.

Reassuring local residents, he said: "What I would say is these circumstances which we are dealing with, while they are particularly gruesome discoveries, are fortunately extremely rare, not just within Herts but extremely rare nationwide."

Anyone with information should call the Beds and Herts Major Crime Unit on 0845 3300 222 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.