It was Sunday the 2nd of March 2025 at around 3:40pm when Staffordshire police received a call from a member of the public alerting them that they had found what they believed were skeletal human remains near Festival Park in Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent.

Police detectives and forensic teams along an anthropologist, a botanist and an archaeologist have remained at the scene for a number of days to conduct a thorough investigation to help identified the unidentified missing person who may have laid undiscovered from weeks to years.

From Sunday the 2nd of march until today a police cordon was put in place and has been widened in the following days.

Stoke-on-Trent live have been at the scene taking arial photography and video footage of the scene and have passed on several questions to detectives in hopes to get a better idea of who has been discovered. To find more about live updates on the Stoke-on-Trent website please click the blue link above.

It is unknown yet if the unidentified remains are of a male or female and no further information has been given of the type of clothing or possessions this person may have worn or owned.

As we know over the years a number of missing persons cases have been delayed at entering the missing persons register so it is imperative that police and the public try and think back to any missing persons cases.

A spokeswoman said: “A spokeswoman said: “We can now confirm that the remains are human but at this time they have not been formally identified. A scene is in place while investigators examine the scene. We want to assure the local community that although this is an unsettling discovery, we have a visible presence in the area to investigate, provide reassurance and to listen to any concerns.”

If you have any information you should call the police on 101, quoting incident number 397 of 2 March, or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.