Bones In Bag

Bones were found in a bag in a pond at the edge of Old in Northamptonshire.

No identification could be made, but it was thought that they might have been those of a local tramp known as Uncle Tom who used to roam the countryside. After the bones were discovered, locals suggested that they might have been those of a tramp who used to sleep under hedgerows with a female friend. It was further suggested that it might have been his friend who buried him. The police said their only chance of following up that lead was to find the tramps friend.

It was heard that the tramp and the woman were known to have toured the countryside bordered by Desborough, Rothwell, Broughton and Old during the 1950s. They would regularly be seen pushing an old box on wheels which they used as a bed at night. Locals from Old said that the tramp had been forever playing an old tin whistle and had been about 70 when he simply 'vanished off the face of the earth'.

The tramps friend was thought to have come from a respectable background but to have given up a career as a nurse to tramp around and it was thought that she might at the time of the discovery of the bones been a resident in an old person's home, and checks were made.

A detective said:

It was also thought that the remains could have been those of a miner from Doncaster. It was reported that the miner had been a prime possibility, but that when it was discovered that he had in fact moved to Nottinghamshire 30 years earlier and not Northamptonshire, the police said they were back to square one in their investigation. The miner had disappeared from Old in 1955, but was never officially reported missing.

The bones were found in a black plastic dustbin bag by two boys in the pond in October 1985. The bag had been weighted down with stones.

The two boys had been out looking for fossils.

A skeleton expert from Liverpool University said that the remains were those of a man aged about 70, about 5ft 5in tall and of a heavy muscular build. He was thought to have had coarse facial features and to have been a country type, a manual worker, and possibly engaged in agriculture or the quarry industry.

It was also thought that the bones had been buried twice, probably around 1945 to 1955 and had remained buried for at least 7 years after which they were dug up and disposed of in the bag someplace else before being dumped in the pond. It was noted that the bag the bones were found in was determined to have been manufactured in 1962.

The police said that there were no signs that the man had died a violent death, but that they could not rule it out.

A detective said:

The remains were found unclothed.