Twenty artist's drawings of dead people found on or near Britain's rail and Tube network since the mid-70s, but who remain unidentified, have been released as part of the review. There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding any of the deaths, two of whom were women. Detective Chief Superintendent Miles Flood from BTP said: "All these fatalities were fully investigated at the time and all clues followed up to try to establish an identity, but without success. We are now taking another look to see if there is any more we can do, in some cases to see if advances in forensic techniques can help, and to appeal to the public to see if anyone recognizes them. "Most of these cases are from the greater London area, where people can often be quite isolated and transient, but one is from Coventry and another a quite recent death in Cornwall. "Some of these people may have had an itinerant lifestyle, but it is likely that there are still relatives or friends who may recognize them and thought they had simply moved away." The BTP review is the first in a line of similar reviews the NPIA is conducting with other forces across the country. Its UK Missing Persons' Bureau maintains an unidentified body database for the police service. Under operational name Kharon, the Bureau is now providing funding and dedicated operational support so forces can conduct cold case reviews to help identify those on the database. NPIA Chief Executive Chief Constable Peter Neyroud said: "The NPIA is the centre of expertise for the police service in cases of missing people. "Through the database we maintain, and because of the breadth of forensic capabilities the NPIA provides the police service, the UK's Missing Persons' Bureau is best placed to support the service when it comes to cold case reviews of this kind. "There are around 1,000 cases of unidentified bodies across the country, dating back more than 50 years. Behind every case will be a family or friend who perhaps wants to know what happened to their loved one or bring closure to a mystery." Through the UK's Missing Persons' Bureau, the police service is able to draw on expertise from across other NPIA expert services, such as the National Injuries Database, DNA databases, fingerprint database and age progression and forensic artists. The BTP drawings have been made by Leeds-based police facial imaging specialist Sharon McDonagh. She is one of only a handful of accredited police artists on the NPIA's specialist database. She said: "What I try to do is to recreate what the person would have looked like alive, to breathe life back into them if you like. The source material is a mortuary photograph, but the drawing is not just a reproduction. Rather these are interpretations that highlight certain characteristics, which people who knew the person will hopefully instantly recognize. "Although I only have a picture of a face to work from, I use all the information about that person. If you know they are of slim build for instance that will affect the way you draw their face; if you know something about their background, you can get a feel for the person." Anyone with any information about any of the people pictured is asked to call BTP on 0121 634 5613 quoting the drawing reference number. A press briefing is being held NPIA's office at 10 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0NN prompt at 0930hrs on Thursday 19 August 2010. BTP Detective Chief Superintendent Miles Flood and NPIA Chief Executive Chief Constable Peter Neyroud will lead the press briefing. One-on-one interview bids following the press briefing may be made via Vincent.Burke@npia.pnn.police.uk or by calling 020 7147 8310. For information about the use of the unidentified bodies database call Vincent Burke at the NPIA press office on 020 7147 8310. Individual descriptions of each of the artist's impressions (numbered as per each image): Ref 01 is a woman struck by a train at Victoria Tube station, London on: 13/01/1975. She is white, 25-30 years old, approximately 5'5'' with short dark brown hair and a wart on her left cheek. She was wearing an orange three quarter length coat, a green jumper, black trousers and black shoes (size 6 ½). Ref 02 is a man struck by a train at Mile End Tube station, London on 08/05/1975. He is white, 45-50 years old, approximately 6'0'' with black, receding hair and false teeth. He was wearing a navy blue blazer with yellow metal embossed buttons, a light blue shirt, blue trousers and black leather shoes (size 7). He also had a metal wristwatch engraved "Tudor Oyster". Ref 03 is a man struck by a train at Arsenal Tube station, London on 20/04/1976. He is white, 40-45 years old, approximately 5'7' with light brown receding hair. Apart from his lower front teeth, his teeth were false and he was wearing a green check Harris tweed type jacket, green tweed type trousers, a pale pink shirt and brown shoes. Ref 04 is a man struck by a train at Upton Park Tube station, London on 20/03/1979. He is black, 30-40 years old, approximately 5'8'' with black greying hair. He was wearing a brown leather bomber jacket and a blue jumper with 'Rolls Royce' motif. Ref 05 is a woman struck by a train at Enfield Lock station, north London on 01/05/1981. She is white, around 50 years old, approximately 5'4'' with grey shoulder length hair. She was wearing a brown overcoat, red jumper, black dress, brown ankle length boots and a black headscarf with light blue flowers. Ref 07 is a man struck by a train at Southall station, north London on 08/06/1983. He is of south Asian appearance, 35-40 years old, approximately 5'8'' with black collar length hair. He was wearing a beige windcheater jacket, a red and white pullover, blue jumper, grey striped shirt and brown checked trousers. Ref 08 is a man struck by a train at Westbourne Park Tube station, London on 06/10/1983. He is of south Asian appearance, 40-50 years old, approximately 5'5'' with black receding hair. He was wearing a beige suit jacket, grey jumper, beige suit trousers, red and white striped shirt, and burgundy slip-on shoes. Ref 09 is a man who died of a heart attack at Euston station, London on 22/01/1989. He is white, about 55 years old, approximately 5'7'' with black receding hair. The tattoo on his lower left arm (pictured) is of two clasped hands shaking under a union jack with the word 'liberty' underneath. He was wearing a grey jumper, brown trousers and brown shoes. Ref 10 is a man found hanging from a tree at Ouse Valley railway viaduct, Sussex on 26/07/1991. He is white, 19-25 years old, approximately 5'9'' with dark brown curly hair. He was wearing a red and black jacket, a denim jacket, mauve polo neck jumper, grey shirt, blue jeans and brown suede walking shoes. He may have spoken with a French accent. Ref 11 is a man struck by a train at Earlsdon Bridge, Coventry on 30/10/1993. He is white, 25-35 years old, approximately 5'8'' with short brown hair. He was wearing a light blue short sleeved polo neck shirt, blue jeans and white trainers. Ref 12 is a man struck by a train at St Albans, Herts on 02/08/1995. He is white, about 30 years old, approximately 5'7' 'with brown collar length hair. He was wearing a blue T-shirt, grey trousers, and brown boots and had a tattoo on his right forearm featuring two swallows holding a banner with the words 'Marie' and possibly 'Ena'. Ref 13 is a man struck by a train at Erith, London on 15/12/1998. He is white, 40-50 years old, approximately 5' 6' 'with black hair. He was wearing a blue shirt, grey trousers and black shoes, and had false teeth. Ref 14 is a man struck by a train at Barking, east London on 29/03/1999. He is white, 50-70 years old, approximately 5'6'' with brown hair. He was wearing a black anorak, black trousers, blue jeans (worn underneath other trousers), a black jumper and black shoes. He lacked upper and lower teeth, and had a boil on the right side of his neck. Ref 15 is a man found dead from hypothermia beside the track in Southend, Essex on 15/11/2000. He is black, approximately 5'8'' with receding black hair and a grey beard. He was wearing a green jacket, brown trousers and white 'Tommy Hilfiger' trainers. He may have been an itinerant who inhabited the local area and may have previously been in the Waterloo area of London. Ref 17 is a man struck by a train at Leyton Midland Road station, east London on 08/11/2004. He is white, 30-40 years old, approximately 5'8'' with short dark brown hair. He was wearing a blue 'Nike' jacket, grey shirt, blue jeans and black shoes. Ref 18 is a man found dead in a hut at Cricklewood sidings, London on 31/01/2008. He is white, about 75 years old, approximately 4'10'' with white receding hair and a beard. He was wearing a black jumper with a grey circle on it, a red 'Marylebone School' jumper, an orange sweatshirt, green t-shirt and white tracksuit bottoms. He may have been a local itinerant with first name of 'Dave'. Ref 19 is a man struck by a train on 15/08/2009 near the now disused station at Marazion, Cornwall. He is white, 30-45 years old, approximately 5'8", thin to medium build with grey hair and blue/green eyes. He was wearing a black leather motorcycle jacket, black Belstaff motorcycle gloves, three tops underneath the jacket, beige trousers and dark brown suede desert boots. He was in possession of a small rucksack containing a Duracell torch, a Casio LCD portable TV/radio, a pair of sunglasses, a plastic cheque sized wallet which contained an old pound note, an unwritten postcard of New York, a multi-tool and a small key. He also had a gold Bucherer make watch with a black face and black leather strap. A copy of Motorcycle News magazine dated 12/08/09 was found nearby. Ref 20 is a man struck by a train under a road bridge on 15/12/2009 near Plumstead station, south east London. He is white, in his mid-50s, 5'2" to 5'6" with dark, curly, collar length hair. He was wearing a black shiny bomber jacket, blue jeans, black trainers and a black and white striped scarf.
Notes to Editors
Sharon McDonagh, the forensic artist who created the impressions of each face, will be available at the briefing.
All 20 artist's impressions are available on the BTP website - http://www.btp.presscentre.com/: (hi and lo resolution images available).
For more information about the BTP cold case review, contact Simon Lubin on 020 7830 8854.
Ref 06 is a man struck by a train at Embankment Tube station, London on 21/08/1982. He is 45-50 years old, approximately 5'9'' with brown receding hair and upper false teeth. He was wearing a brown jacket and light brown trousers.
Ref 16 is a man struck by a train at Harpenden in Hertfordshire on 19/08/2004. He is white, 25-35 years old with a shaven head. He was wearing a green camouflage sleeveless shirt, black jeans and black trainers.
