Mystery of man found dead in wetsuit deepens as inquest questions ethnicity

An unidentified man whose body was discovered in a reservoir in mid Wales two years ago may not have been of white ethnicity as previously thought, an inquest heard.

The body of the man, who was wearing an open water swimming wetsuit, was found by a dogwalker at the Claerwen Reservoir near Rhayader, Powys, in October 2024.

Despite a major international police appeal and the use of ground-breaking facial reimaging techniques, his identity and the cause of his death remain a mystery.

Coroner Patricia Morgan told detectives to analyse a liver sample given to the police two years ago which was never tested, adding she wanted to explore "this further line of inquiry" before reaching a conclusion.

The inquest heard the man's remains could have been in the water for more than three months before they were found.

Tests could determine if he had died before or after he entered the water.

It also emerged that although the force ran the man's DNA through police databases, they did not use commercial DNA sites which are commonly used by people investigating their family history and trying to make connections with long-lost relations.

Det Insp Anthea Ponting told the inquest via videolink that the force considered using such sites at the time but was told it could involve significant resources.

"We were advised we could have results into the thousands. The NCA (National Crime Agency) said they could filter them," she said.

"But it could still lead to a large number of results and a large number of officer hours to work through," Ponting said.

"We wanted to get an ID as soon as possible. We felt that facial recognition might trigger a more far-reaching response."

Initial enquiries gave officers a general idea of the man's age, height and build as between 30 and 60 years old, around 6ft (1.83m), weighing between 202lbs and 220lbs (91.5kg to 99.5kg), and of white European descent.

But in written evidence, forensic orthodontist Dr Sally Andrew said from her examination of his teeth and jaw her finding was that the man "may not have been of white ethnicity".

The hearing was also told an examination of a tag on the wetsuit found marks which could possibly have been a name, but scientific support officers were unable to enhance those marks.

The inquest was adjourned until the test on the liver sample has been carried out.