Boat boy’s grim discovery in river remains unsolved 19 years on

Thanks to modern forensic technology, police are usually able to identify the victims within days, ending uncertainty for missing people’s relatives.

But one case has remained unsolved for almost 20 years and detectives are appealing to Yorkshire Post readers for help.

On August 24, 1992, a fully-clothed man’s body was found by a 14-year-old boy who was in a scull racing a friend opposite a rowing club near Lendal Bridge.

It was reported that one of the boys’ oars had struck the top of the man’s head, lifting his shoulders out of the water.

Experts estimated the man was aged between 45 and 65, had been dead for about four days, and was a white European of medium build, 6ft tall with shoulder-length grey hair.

He was wearing slip-on brown shoes, blue checked trousers, a dark Gainsborough jacket and a multi-coloured crew-neck jumper over a bright red shirt.

Police carried out a detailed forensic examination and a recent review concluded that DNA evidence could potentially be used.

Officers will check any evidence they find against the national Missing Persons Bureau, which maintains a list of everyone who has been reported missing.

The Lendal Bridge mystery is the final case in the Yorkshire Post’s series on North Yorkshire’s unidentified bodies and the second to concern a body discovered in the Ouse.

Detective Inspector Allan Harder, of North Yorkshire Police’s major crime unit, said the force would never give up its search for answers to its unsolved cases.

“North Yorkshire Police is committed to identifying all eight unidentified bodies which have been discovered between 1981 and 2008 so that their families can have the answers they deserve as to the whereabouts of their father, mother or child.

“This commitment will continue until positive identifications are made.”