Murder investigation launched after police identify remains of man who died 56 years ago

Police have identified human remains found in a field in Nottinghamshire after the victim’s grandson came forward.

The bones were discovered by a member of the public as construction work took place on some farmland in Sutton-in-Ashfield on 26 April.

Police exhumed the remains and appealed for anyone who had any information.

Detectives said an initial investigation had suggested the body had been buried there to hide it.

It was found with two distinctive socks and a shoe, which Russell Lowbridge spotted and believed could be his grandfather Alfred Swinscoe’s.

DNA tests were carried out on him, other family members and the remains – and a positive match concluded they do belong to Mr Swinscoe.

He was 54 when he went out drinking at the Pixton Miners Arms in Derbyshire on the evening of 20 January 1967 and never returned.

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His family have been waiting 56 years for answers.

Nottinghamshire Police has launched a murder investigation to find out who killed him after analysis of the remains revealed traumatic injuries.

Mr Swinscoe’s daughter Julie, now 82, was 25 when he disappeared and said the news has broken her.

“I remember coming home one day from work and people saying they couldn’t find dad. He had gone missing, and the police were searching,” she said.

“It’s just so horrible. I would like to think I could die knowing the truth. I am 82 now and I could go myself at any time.”

Daughter: ‘I need to know why’

Appealing for people to come forward, she added: “We might be able to now give my dad the funeral he deserves but we don’t have the answers we desperately want.

“Someone killed my dad and I want to know why? I need to know why?”

Mr Swinscoe was a miner, specifically a ‘cutter’, who operated machinery that cut large chunks of coal out of the coal face.

He was nicknamed ‘sparrow’ and referred to as the ‘champion pigeon man of Pixton’ due to his love of pigeon racing.

That night he went to the pub, which has since been turned into flats, with his two sons and some friends.

He gave one of his children, Gary, some money for another round around 10.30pm before leaving to use the outdoor toilet – and never returned.

Gary Swinscoe died in November 2012 after a short illness.

Mr Lowbridge, now 60, said: “His disappearance haunted my uncle Gary his whole life. He went to his grave never knowing what happened.

“We are going to bury Alfred in Sutton next to Uncle Gary. It is time this old miner came home.”

Four of Mr Swinscoe’s six children are still alive and he has a number of grandchildren.

They are appealing for anyone with any information about his life and the time leading up to his death.

Nottinghamshire Police’s assistant chief constable Rob Griffin said: “His killer left six children without a father. His killer stole any chance of him building the strong and lasting bonds that grandparents have with their grandchildren.

“His killer left them with decades of unanswered questions about what happened to their loved one. We hope with the public’s help we can put that right.”

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