As Gareth Morgan walked alongside a field on the outskirts of Canterbury, he spotted in the distance what looked like a pile of rubbish.

Thinking little of it, he returned home, only to later read in KentOnline's sister paper the Kentish Gazette of homeless people in the city having their possessions stolen.

Sensing a connection, he left for work early the next day to check out the scene off Hollow Lane in Wincheap.

What he discovered on that fateful morning - three years ago this month - would set in motion a police investigation which remains unsolved to this day.

For in that field was the body of a man, lying on his back, naked to the waist with his arms folded across his torso.

Mr Morgan later told a coroner: “It was 50 metres into the field.

“I got to it and realised it was the body of a white male. He had no top on and there were items surrounding him, including a book. I called 999.”

Next to the body was a black suitcase, a book on clinical theology and a wedding catalogue addressed to a woman called Mandy Martin.

Police also discovered a mobile phone, glasses and an Oyster Card, which was bought in Walthamstow but never used.

Detective Inspector Tracy Anstis said at the time: “Someone, somewhere, must know who this person is.”

But what initially looked like a routine case would prove to be anything but.

Acting DS Gary Stamp, who led the case, told an inquest examining the man’s death: “There were no signs of injury, no clues in his clothing.

“His fingerprints had no match and we couldn’t match any DNA samples.

“We went right across Europe to try to find the identity of this man.”

A forensic computer reconstruction of the man’s face was produced and circulated by police, but nobody could identify him.

Police thought he could be from eastern Europe, so officers visited local sites popular with migrant workers and completed a search of DNA databases across the continent.

ADS Stamp said: “We carried out extensive house-to-house inquiries and talked to fruit pickers in the area but we found nothing.

“We also went to two homeless centres in Canterbury and they couldn’t help.

“We got numerous names but gradually they were ruled out.

“We couldn’t do dental checks as he had no teeth.”

The man was thought to be in his mid-50s to late-60s, with a skinny build and standing just 5ft 5ins tall.

A post-mortem investigation revealed he had died from heart disease.

It was thought it may have been caused by cirrhosis of the liver, which in turn could have been a result of starvation.

Assistant north east Kent coroner Ian Gollop said: “This is clearly a man who didn’t want to be found and was living at the edge of existence.

“The police couldn’t have done any more, but sadly we have to close the case.”

Kent Police this week confirmed the man’s body remains unidentified.

Spokesman James Walker added: “Should any information that can help identify the man come to light it will be fully investigated.”

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