UPDATE: Severed human head found in Cambridgeshire quarry was male and aged 30-50

Detectives investigating the discovery of a human head at a quarry in Mepal, Cambridgeshire, have confirmed it is male.
The quarry in Mepal where the human head was found - Image ©Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. Picture by Terry Harris / i-ImagesThe quarry in Mepal where the human head was found - Image ©Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. Picture by Terry Harris / i-Images
The quarry in Mepal where the human head was found - Image ©Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. Picture by Terry Harris / i-Images

Officers from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit (MCU) have been working with specialists from the Natural History Museum and an odontologist since the discovery on May 16.

After conducting numerous tests and examinations, specialists believe the man was aged between 30 and 50 at the time of his death, which could have been as long ago as the 1960s, although experts believe it is more likely to have occurred about 10 years ago.

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Officers were called at about 3pm on Monday, May 16 after a worker at the quarry in Block Fen Drove made the discovery.

The quarry in Mepal where the human head was found - Image ©Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. Picture by Terry Harris / i-ImagesThe quarry in Mepal where the human head was found - Image ©Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. Picture by Terry Harris / i-Images
The quarry in Mepal where the human head was found - Image ©Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. Picture by Terry Harris / i-Images

A post-mortem examination came back inconclusive, and the cause of death remains to be unknown at this stage.

Detective Inspector Jerry Waite, from the MCU, said: “One possible scenario we are looking at is that it may have been a tragic accident whereby the man was hit by a train along the Bedfordshire line.

“We believe the head may have been lodged somewhere along the structure of the bridge in Sharnbrook, and as part of the recent cleaning process, has been dislodged, found its way into the skip and deposited at the quarry in Mepal.

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“We have been working very closely with anthropologists at the Natural History Museum in London to establish the age and gender of the deceased, as well as the National Crime Agency’s Missing Persons Database, which unfortunately has not shown any DNA matches.

The quarry in Mepal where the human head was found - Image ©Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. Picture by Terry Harris / i-ImagesThe quarry in Mepal where the human head was found - Image ©Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. Picture by Terry Harris / i-Images
The quarry in Mepal where the human head was found - Image ©Licensed to i-Images Picture Agency. Picture by Terry Harris / i-Images

“I would urge anyone who has any suspicions around who this person may be to contact us.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Major Crime Unit on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, or via their online reporting system at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.