Sweatshirt May Be the Key to Identifying Body

Thursday 18th of January 2007 04:40:27 PM

Sweatshirt May Be the Key to Identifying Body

Police are attempting to identify the body of a man found hanging in woods near a Lancaster service station. The body was discovered last November, by a man who entered the woods to find a place to urinate, and is thought to have been hanging for as long as six months.

Near the body was a man-made shelter, containing clothing and camping equipment, but no identification. Police originally thought the body to be that of a student from the Lancaster University, but there were no missing students, and even a DNA test returned no results.

Police are now looking to the man’s clothing to identify the body. The man was wearing a Sweatshirt bearing the logo of an Ottowa, Canada restaurant, “Local Heroes Bar & Grill.”

Dean Vasitas, owner of Ottawa’s five Local Heroes restaurants says the red and white logo has remained the same for the last 15 years, but that styles of Sweatshirt have changed occasionally. After seeing a picture of the faded grey Sweatshirt the man was wearing, which is thought to have been black originally, he said it was probably around ten years old.

Although sometimes given to charity, or given away as promotional clothing, Vasitas says the Sweatshirts are mainly worn by employees.

The man was also wearing a pair of grey and blue “Penmans” running shoes, a brand exclusive to Wal-Mart Canada.

Police are now appealing to the public to help identify the man, and if unsuccessful, they plan to commission an artist to sketch a recreation of what the man may have looked like. They are not treating the body as suspicious, but want to find the man’s family.

Neither the Royal Canadian Mounted Police nor the Ottawa Police Department have been contacted about the unidentified man.