Cornwall beach naked body find now treated as 'suspicious'

The death of a man whose naked body washed up on a Cornwall beach last week is now being treated as suspicious by police.

The man's body was found by members of the public on Perranporth beach on Tuesday.

He is believed to be between 50 and 70 years old, and was only wearing socks and one walking shoe when he was found.

Following a post-mortem examination, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Thorne said the man's injuries could not be explained through natural causes.

He told the BBC: "We can't go into the detail of those injuries at this moment in time, but we are happy they are not necessarily caused by natural events and we have to treat them as suspicious.

"Finding out the identity of this man is key to the investigation. Without knowing who he is, it is very difficult to find out what happened to him and establish the circumstances surrounding his death."

According to the Independent, police believe the man was in the water for no more than 24 hours.

They described him as white, 5ft 5in to 5ft 7in tall, of thin build, with white receding hair that was bald on top, and a thick white bushy beard.

Police found a dark blue Regatta jacket with a wallet in the pocket holding a picture of a young boy with the date of 13 April 1952 on the beach on Wednesday.

They also found a set of keys holding a Citroen car key and a hippopotamus keyring.

They are currently searching for the owners of the items to determine whether they are linked to the victim.

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