Age: 24
Sex: male
Date: 26 Jul 2002
Place: Charnock Richard, Chorley, Lancashire
Darren Carley went missing in January 2002 and some human bones were later found on 26 July 2002 on farmland in Charnock Richard.
However, the remains were not identified as being those of Darren Carley until October 2018 after DNA evidence was examined following scientific developments in the field.
The skull was said to have shown evidence of having sustained significant trauma which was thought to have been due to an assault and his cause of death was given as blunt force trauma to the head.
Before his remains were identified the police had consulted forensic archaeologists and a forensic dentist and had a computer-generated image of his face made as well as a clay model. Other developments led the police to think that the remains belonged to a man that had lived a large part of his life in the West Midlands. The police also went to India after experts suggested that he might have been from there.
Darren Carley had lived in Birmingham with his girlfriend at the time but was last seen at his parent’s home in Swindon. When he went missing he had taken no money, clothes or other belongings with him.
Darren Carley was buried at Chorley Cemetery but his remains were later exhumed and taken to Wiltshire by his family.