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

[FaerieDust]

Still unidentified a year on.

Local news report.


I grew up near this area and check the local news regularly, they post reminders every few months because it’s so unusual for anyone to turn up unidentified like this. I can’t think of another case from the area, aside from foreign nationals here to work who take a while to be identified.

The problem I have with this case is that, while it is a beauty spot, there are many beaches and surfing/body boarding spots on the coast that would be preferable to take a dip in, rather than this reservoir. I think it may be possible he’s a long distance cyclist and his belongings are stashed somewhere and haven’t been found yet. Maybe he decided to cycle from the top to bottom of Wales or vice versa, and was camping under the stars in between. There are a lot of people doing stuff like that in the Welsh countryside. It’s possible his belongings have been stolen but it’s an incredibly low crime area, with very few vehicle thefts happening around there. Most crime in this rural part of Wales is targeted at farmers (gun, livestock, farming equipment) or small time drugs busts, pub fights, etc.

This case is almost as if it’s out of the Hinterland/ Y Gwyll TV series.

 

[CSIAngus]

Hopefully, they'll invest some money and have his isotopes looked at for geo-location of where he grew up and his DNA taken for an extended family search. These are powerful tools but not a cheap option.

 

[Glojo]

OCTOBER 2025
BBC Wales have appealed again for information regarding this person as there has been no progress and it is now a year since the body in the wetsuit was found and approx a year and three months since it entered the water.

It was found in Claerwen Reservoir, near Rhayader, in Mid Wales, on Oct 18 2024 and it was estimated the body had been in the water for approximately 12 weeks, so the man went missing in end of June to mid July 2024.

A post-mortem examination found the man was aged between 30 and 60, was about 6ft (1.83m) and wearing an extra large Zone 3 Agile wetsuit.

No other belongings or method of transport ( no car, van, bike etc) was found at the scene or in the local area.

Mid Wales is very rural and I think it is highly unlikely that anyone would have stolen either his belongings or his vehicle - they would be far more likely to report it.

The nearest bus stop was 4 miles away and it would be almost impossible to walk that far in a wetsuit.

It is very strange, over the past 12 months, police officers have checked his description against lists of missing people from Dyfed-Powys and all other UK police force areas, liaised with international police and conducted inquiries with fingerprint and DNA databases but no match has been found.

They say that it is believed that he went in of his own accord but why were there no clothes, possessions etc in the area and how did he get there without a vehicle?

 

[Glojo]

Still unidentified a year on.

Local news report.


I grew up near this area and check the local news regularly, they post reminders every few months because it’s so unusual for anyone to turn up unidentified like this. I can’t think of another case from the area, aside from foreign nationals here to work who take a while to be identified.

The problem I have with this case is that, while it is a beauty spot, there are many beaches and surfing/body boarding spots on the coast that would be preferable to take a dip in, rather than this reservoir. I think it may be possible he’s a long distance cyclist and his belongings are stashed somewhere and haven’t been found yet. Maybe he decided to cycle from the top to bottom of Wales or vice versa, and was camping under the stars in between. There are a lot of people doing stuff like that in the Welsh countryside. It’s possible his belongings have been stolen but it’s an incredibly low crime area, with very few vehicle thefts happening around there. Most crime in this rural part of Wales is targeted at farmers (gun, livestock, farming equipment) or small time drugs busts, pub fights, etc.

This case is almost as if it’s out of the Hinterland/ Y Gwyll TV series.

I live near here too. I think it is unlikely that his vehicle was stolen. Its not really a tourist place and any local or tri-athlete would be much more likely to report it than steal it. Its a year in a few days since he was discovered and no progress has been made. Very odd.

 

[dotr]

Oct 15, 2025

'As the anniversary of the discovery approaches, the force is asking the public to come forward with any information that might help. This includes a nationwide appeal on BBC Crimewatch Live, airing on BBC One at 10.45am on Friday, October 24.'

'If you visited Claerwen Reservoir between July and October 18, 2024, and saw anything that might help enquiries, or you are aware of someone who has not been seen for some time and matches the description above, contact Dyfed-Powys Police in one of the following ways: Online: Dyfed-Powys report online. Email: [email protected]. Call: 101''

 

[Susikatze]

Thanks for sharing that, what an emotional read!

Border crosser situation. I dont think that really applies to our UID here because no border involved. Maybe some Urbexer trying to dive to the bottom of the dam? But those do not usually go alone.

jmoo

 

[Kittypoo]

OCTOBER 2025
BBC Wales have appealed again for information regarding this person as there has been no progress and it is now a year since the body in the wetsuit was found and approx a year and three months since it entered the water.

It was found in Claerwen Reservoir, near Rhayader, in Mid Wales, on Oct 18 2024 and it was estimated the body had been in the water for approximately 12 weeks, so the man went missing in end of June to mid July 2024.

A post-mortem examination found the man was aged between 30 and 60, was about 6ft (1.83m) and wearing an extra large Zone 3 Agile wetsuit.

No other belongings or method of transport ( no car, van, bike etc) was found at the scene or in the local area.

Mid Wales is very rural and I think it is highly unlikely that anyone would have stolen either his belongings or his vehicle - they would be far more likely to report it.

The nearest bus stop was 4 miles away and it would be almost impossible to walk that far in a wetsuit.

It is very strange, over the past 12 months, police officers have checked his description against lists of missing people from Dyfed-Powys and all other UK police force areas, liaised with international police and conducted inquiries with fingerprint and DNA databases but no match has been found.

They say that it is believed that he went in of his own accord but why were there no clothes, possessions etc in the area and how did he get there without a vehicle?

The wetsuit would indicate to me that he was using a canoe/kayak/sup and got into difficulty. IMO

 

[CSIAngus]

Surely, the Police will have examined the isotopes in his teeth enamel to determine where he grew up, and prepared a facial likeness. If not, why not? If he was from the UK, he'd have been reported missing. More likely a tourist, but even so it is odd that no-one reported him missing from accommodation, and there's no indication of how he got there in a wetsuit. What happened to his possessions and transport? There's an unidentified death in Kielder Forest of a solo America hiker from several decades ago which you would think would be solvable but has confounded everyone to this day

 

[Glojo]

The wetsuit would indicate to me that he was using a canoe/kayak/sup and got into difficulty. IMO

But he must have got there. And where is the paddle board or kayak. It's a closed body of water. I assume the police have searched and they found no possessions.

 

[LadyL]

has anyone suggested that maybe he was dropped off by taxi or uber? driver never hears about him being found deceased?
or an acquaintance staying at the same hotel as him drops him off, goes back to pick him up and he's nowhere to be found because he died? then acquaintance checks out and never hears about him being found?

does anyone know this - when a person dies in water, does their body sink to the bottom, then float back up after awhile?

 

[CSIAngus]

has anyone suggested that maybe he was dropped off by taxi or uber? driver never hears about him being found deceased?
or an acquaintance staying at the same hotel as him drops him off, goes back to pick him up and he's nowhere to be found because he died? then acquaintance checks out and never hears about him being found?

does anyone know this - when a person dies in water, does their body sink to the bottom, then float back up after awhile?

Normally a body will sink until gasses make it buoyant, however he was wearing a wetsuit which adds buoyancy so maybe he was floating or came up sooner.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Perhaps he was in the UK on vacation and he's only considered missing or traveling abroad in his own country.

How would someone in the UK on holiday know about a remote reservoir in central Wales which, according to locals, receives very few visitors? Yes, I know it could be spotted on Google Earth but even so, there needs to be a reason for a foreign tourist to go there rather than to a better known and more accessible place.

 

[Glojo]

has anyone suggested that maybe he was dropped off by taxi or uber? driver never hears about him being found deceased?
or an acquaintance staying at the same hotel as him drops him off, goes back to pick him up and he's nowhere to be found because he died? then acquaintance checks out and never hears about him being found?

does anyone know this - when a person dies in water, does their body sink to the bottom, then float back up after awhile?

Good thought it is about 12 miles but Rhayader is tiny, there are only a very few hotels. The discovery of the body would have been massive news so if he had left his stuff in a hotel or Air BnB I'm sure the police would have been told. This is a tiny community 2,088 people.it just seems impossible that his possessions and / or vehicle would not have been noticed. I live in a similar community not far away and everyone knows your business.

 

[FaerieDust]

has anyone suggested that maybe he was dropped off by taxi or uber? driver never hears about him being found deceased?
or an acquaintance staying at the same hotel as him drops him off, goes back to pick him up and he's nowhere to be found because he died? then acquaintance checks out and never hears about him being found?

does anyone know this - when a person dies in water, does their body sink to the bottom, then float back up after awhile?

Taxi maybe, but there isn't Uber in this area or most of Wales as far as I know aside from the cities (Cardiff, Swansea) which are in the south of Wales. I would imagine they have asked local taxi services and hotels in the area though.

As the body decomposes it tends to float due to gases from decomposition, until it continues and the remains scatter and sink. I suppose with the wetsuit it didn't separate?

 

[CSIAngus]

According to the postmortem (various online paper reports), he'd been in the water for about 12 weeks, which would place his entry into the water in mid July. It was warm at that time with a peak of 27 degrees (Wales average), so a recreational swim may have been tempting. The reservoir water would have been cold but the wetsuit, which was designed for swimming and triathlon, would have given some protection and buoyancy. I can't find a cause of death mentioned in any of the reports but perhaps it was just too much for him and he got into trouble.

Adding another layer of speculation, perhaps he was put there after his death occurred elsewhere. That would account for the absence of possessions and means of transport, and the lack of local leads. There is vehicular access along the northern side of the reservoir. Could he have been dressed in the wetsuit after death? Could he have been taken there by one or more third parties for a swim and dispatched in or near the water, and they left no trace behind?

IMO

 

[Susikatze]

According to the postmortem (various online paper reports), he'd been in the water for about 12 weeks, which would place his entry into the water in mid July. It was warm at that time with a peak of 27 degrees (Wales average), so a recreational swim may have been tempting. The reservoir water would have been cold but the wetsuit, which was designed for swimming and triathlon, would have given some protection and buoyancy. I can't find a cause of death mentioned in any of the reports but perhaps it was just too much for him and he got into trouble.

Adding another layer of speculation, perhaps he was put there after his death occurred elsewhere. That would account for the absence of possessions and means of transport, and the lack of local leads. There is vehicular access along the northern side of the reservoir. Could he have been dressed in the wetsuit after death? Could he have been taken there by one or more third parties for a swim and dispatched in or near the water, and they left no trace behind?

IMO

It is very hard to put a wetsuit or neoprene suit on someone who does not cooperate well, including dead bodies.

 

[CSIAngus]

It is very hard to put a wetsuit or neoprene suit on someone who does not cooperate well, including dead bodies.

How do you know? Have you tried?

 

[FaerieDust]

Tbh I wonder if it was more of a dump site situation myself, but then the wetsuit makes no sense.

 

[Susikatze]

How do you know? Have you tried?

Not with a dead body but with a living child who had to wear it for a swim class in cold water. Let me tell you, it is no fun.

 

[starlightstarbright]

Coming back to this case again, it really is quite perplexing. We have had a number of high profile drownings determined to be suicides in the UK in the past couple years. None of them wearing wetsuits. You’d think if a deep cold reservoir was where you chose to end your life, you wouldn’t think about the cold. The buoyancy it provided alone would make it challenging. I swim in exactly these sorts of places and I don’t wear a wetsuit because it’s too awkward with the buoyancy.

But if suicide wasn’t what happened here, where is his stuff? I think kayaking or canoeing might be one possibility, where the ‘stuff’ all went down with the kayak or whatever. But you can’t get a kayak to and from there without a vehicle. Even if someone dropped him off, they would have been returning to collect him at a certain time, and you wouldn’t just be like ‘oh well’ and carry on if a kayaker didn’t make a pre-specified meeting.

Most importantly, no one seems to be missing him, or at least hasn’t made a report in the UK. Not a friend or family member, or a landlord, or an employer.

I would really like to know if there is a chance he was non-British, maybe a bit of a free spirit, off on an adventure and no one has quite clocked that he’s off the radar yet. MOO