UK - Mid-Wales, White male, Age 30-60, 6ft+, found Oct 2024 in Claerwen Reservoir wearing wetsuit

[Tortoise]

Despite forensic tests, extensive inquiries and searches and appeals for information, detectives still have not solved the mystery of the man in the wetsuit.

[...]

Investigators suspect he might have been in the vast Claerwen Reservoir for up to 12 weeks - so could have been in the water since as far back as July and in the height of summer.

What police say is "highly unusual" about the man in the wetsuit is that no evidence of his personal belongings or an abandoned car or bike were ever discovered.

But with no clothes or vehicle found and the nearest bus stop about four hours' walk away, police do think it is unlikely he walked there in his wetsuit.

[...]

Police have put out an appeal for information about a man found dead in Claerwen Reservoir wearing a wetsuit usually used by triathletes and open water swimmers

Claerwen Reservoir: Mystery of body in a wetsuit puzzles police

Police continue to investigate how a body of a man in a wetsuit was found in a Welsh reservoir.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Tortoise]

The remote Claerwen reservoir where the floating body was discovered (Image: Google)
A post-mortem gave only a rough approximation of age, indicating he was a white man between 30 and 60 years-old. He was wearing an Zone 3 Agile wetsuit which is popular triathletes and open water swimmers. As the £200 wetsuit was extra large, officers suspect the victim was a big man between 6ft and 6ft 5ins (1.83 to 1.96m) tall. He is thought to have weighed between 14 and 15 stone with a 44in–48in chest.

Dyfed Powys Police are still hoping to unearth new information and want to hear from people who visited the area since the start of July 2024. Detectives are particularly keen to find out if anyone saw or retrieved personal property such as bags, clothes and shoes.


Anyone with information can get in touch by calling 101 or contacting the force online. Officers can also be emailed at [email protected] or messaged via the force’s social media channels. The reference to be quoted is ref 64 of October 18, 2024.

Mystery of the tall man who may have died in Mid Wales reservoir last summer

Police have been left left puzzling over the discovery of a body in a wetsuit

www.dailypost.co.uk

 

[Cherwell]

Someone stole his car?

 

[SurreySleuthy]

Someone stole his car?

I am puzzled how no one has reported him missing though.

 

[Tortoise]

I wondered if he might have been a wild camper and his tent might have been a fair walk away, and not been discovered.

 

[starlightstarbright]

I’m an open water swimmer. Honestly, I would not walk far carrying a wetsuit. That looks like quite a bulky full one. I know they say they’re popular with triathletes, but I’m struggling to see this as the sort you’d run and cycle in, like you might a lighter weight shortie one. I just can’t see anyone walking far in or carrying that wetsuit. Maybe it’s possible he came by bike and someone stole it along with his bag?

 

[Cherwell]

Or he came with someone else who intended to harm him ......

 

[dotr]

Dead man found floating in a remote Welsh reservoir wearing XL wetsuit

Fingerprint and DNA tests on the remains found at Claerwen Reservoir in Powys by a walker last October have failed to find a match.

www.dailymail.co.uk

''Locals in Rhayader said few locals or tourists ever visited the reservoir, where even in summer water temperature near the surface is a bitter 10C (50F).
Alan Austin, who chairs a local rambling group, told the BBC he had 'never' seen anyone swimming in it.
'It can be extremely dangerous,' he said.''

'We would still like to hear from anyone who has visited the Claerwen reservoir, or the surrounding area, between the beginning of July 2024 and October 18, and haven't spoken to police yet.''

'Fingerprint and DNA tests on the remains found at Claerwen Reservoir in Powys (pictured) by a walker last October have failed to find a match''

 

[RichardKimble]

DBM.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

@Tortoise
Thank you for starting this thread. Poor man. Why was he out in that reservoir?

Someone must know him, and someone out there must be, or eventually will be, missing him.

Hopefully law enforcement everywhere will take the report seriously, should he be reported as a missing person.

 

[Bethan]

Agreed @ChatteringBirds! How strange that he’s not been reported missing!

 

[lizziginne]

Saw this on the news yesterday, very confused how he got there, unless he was with somebody else who left him?

 

[CSIAngus]

Agreed @ChatteringBirds! How strange that he’s not been reported missing!

Perhaps he was in the UK on vacation and he's only considered missing or traveling abroad in his own country. There were no belongings or means of transportation found, which is surprising unless stolen or considered abandoned and taken. No reports of belongings left behind in accommodation. Unless of course there was foul play and all evidence was tidied up. I find it odd that anyone would go swimming in a remote reservoir on their own and then leave no trace out of water. As has been said on this thread, he'll not have walked far in such a substantial wetsuit. DNA analysis should give further clues on ethnic origin and appearance and I'll be surprised if this isn't a further disclosure at some point.

 

[pokerowan]

Perhaps he was in the UK on vacation and he's only considered missing or traveling abroad in his own country. There were no belongings or means of transportation found, which is surprising unless stolen or considered abandoned and taken. No reports of belongings left behind in accommodation. Unless of course there was foul play and all evidence was tidied up. I find it odd that anyone would go swimming in a remote reservoir on their own and then leave no trace out of water. As has been said on this thread, he'll not have walked far in such a substantial wetsuit. DNA analysis should give further clues on ethnic origin and appearance and I'll be surprised if this isn't a further disclosure at some point.

That's a brilliant point - I hadn't considered someone from outside the country and now it's hard to think it could be anyone else. It would explain (for me) why the reservoir was chosen, given the interview with the rambling group chair that implied nobody local would ever swim there.

 

[dotr]

Just started to read this very intriguing article concerning human remains found inside several wetsuits in Norway.

The Wetsuitman

Last winter two bodies were found in Norway and the Netherlands. They were wearing identical wetsuits. The police in three countries were involved in the case, but never managed to identify them. This is the story of who they were.

www.dagbladet.no

Unidentified: January 2., on the exposed coast at Lista in the south of Norway, an old man found a wetsuit with human remains.

 

[Lucy6226]

Is there parking for a van nearby. I'm thinking he might have been travelling/living in a van...popped for a swim. Wild swimming is common amongst vanlife folk in my experience. A van would be a highly attractive steal and probably wouldn't have been 'abandoned' long.

 

[Innotts]

Just started to read this very intriguing article concerning human remains found inside several wetsuits in Norway.

The Wetsuitman

Last winter two bodies were found in Norway and the Netherlands. They were wearing identical wetsuits. The police in three countries were involved in the case, but never managed to identify them. This is the story of who they were.

www.dagbladet.no

Unidentified: January 2., on the exposed coast at Lista in the south of Norway, an old man found a wetsuit with human remains.

Thanks for sharing that, what an emotional read!

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Wild swimming is common amongst vanlife folk in my experience.

Wow, people are so adventurous!
More and more people are living out of vehicles nowadays, and you're right that he might be one of them, and his relatives might only hear from him sporadically.

 

[lizziginne]

Is there parking for a van nearby. I'm thinking he might have been travelling/living in a van...popped for a swim. Wild swimming is common amongst vanlife folk in my experience. A van would be a highly attractive steal and probably wouldn't have been 'abandoned' long.

I feel like it's such a remote area that locals would notice a van if it didn't move for a couple of days. I definitely noticed vehicles which have been parked up in places for a couple of days when driving to work through fairly remote parts of Scotland.
But I definitely agree his vehicle being stolen feels like the most likely scenario without any foul play

 

[bettyboop]

Just started to read this very intriguing article concerning human remains found inside several wetsuits in Norway.

The Wetsuitman

Last winter two bodies were found in Norway and the Netherlands. They were wearing identical wetsuits. The police in three countries were involved in the case, but never managed to identify them. This is the story of who they were.

www.dagbladet.no

Unidentified: January 2., on the exposed coast at Lista in the south of Norway, an old man found a wetsuit with human remains.

Thank You for the link to the article. It's a long article but worth reading. I see @Innotts has already posted the same,lol.