Human bones found in septic tank in Kempsey

Human remains have been found in a septic tank by police investigating an "unexplained death" in Worcestershire.

West Mercia Police are probing the disappearance of a woman from Kempsey in 1982, and had alerted investigators searching for missing Suzy Lamplugh nearby.

But the force said there was no link to the Met Police's search for Ms Lamplugh, eight miles away in Pershore.

The results from a post-mortem examination are yet to be revealed.

West Mercia Police said they are following "many lines of inquiry" after the discovery of the human remains in Kempsey at 16.30 BST on Friday.

"Included within this is to establish if this is connected to the disappearance of a woman from the village of Kempsey in the 1980s," West Mercia Police said.

"We are also aware there is some speculation that this discovery may be linked to the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh who also went missing in the 1980s.

"Although we don't believe it to be, until we have the post-mortem results we are not in a position to link the bones to any particular person at this stage and are keeping an open mind."

Supt Damian Pettit, South Worcestershire's Local Policing Commander added: "We are conducting a very thorough investigation and have multiple lines of enquiry to explore and one of which is into the disappearance of a woman from Kempsey that was launched in 1982."

Estate agent Ms Lamplugh, 25, from London, disappeared in July 1986 and was declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1994.

The Met has confirmed that officers have found "no evidence" linked to her disappearance, after a two-week search in Pershore.

A body has never been found and her killer never charged.

Officers from West Mercia Police had been assisting the Metropolitan Police with the latest search.

It was sparked following publicity about a search last year of a property in Sutton Coldfield, which once belonged to the mother of prime suspect John Cannan.

There have been previous searches in Worcestershire in connection with Ms Lamplugh's disappearance.

Police excavated a field near the former Norton Army Barracks in 2000 and 2001 and land near the village of Drakes Broughton in 2010.

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