Mystery wetsuit death ‘not believed suspicious’

The death of an unidentified man found in a wetsuit at a reservoir was “not currently thought to be suspicious”, an inquest has been told.

Assistant coroner Rachel Knight has called for help in identifying the remains of the man, who was found at Claerwen Reservoir in Powys in October.

The inquest in Pontypridd heard how the body was found on 18 October 2024.

The court heard Dyfed-Powys Police was continuing to investigate the death and are seeking information from the public in order to identify the body.

A post-mortem examination was carried out by Dr Stephen Leadbeatter at the Royal Shrewsbury hospital, but he was not able to find a cause of death.

A cause of death “pending further investigation” was recorded.

Ms Knight said it was necessary to open an inquest into the death of the unidentified male.

Ms Knight said “we don’t currently have a next of kin or family.”

She added “we wish to identify this male and if anyone has any information, please come forward”.

The body was found just before 08:30 on a Friday morning last October in a remote area of mid-Wales.

Investigators suspect it might have been in the vast Claerwen Reservoir for up to 12 weeks – so could have been in the water since as far back as July and in the height of summer.

All police know is that he is a white man, aged between 30 and 60, and was wearing a Zone 3 Agile wetsuit.

As the £200 wetsuit was extra large in size, officers expect the man was between 6ft and 6ft 5in (1.83 to 1.96m) tall, weighed between 14 and 15 stone (89 to 95kg) with a 44 to 48in chest.

The inquest was adjourned until a date to be decided.