Skeleton found close to M67 recognized as lacking man as demise stays thriller

DNA tests identified human remains found beneath a railway bridge near the M67 motorway as Ajani Campbell, 41, reported missing from Preston on January 24. Police are investigating his death

The human remains discovered near the M67 motorway last month have now been identified after a skeleton was found beneath a railway bridge.

Police reported the skeleton was found by bridge inspectors on Monday, August 3. The grim discovery was made beneath a railway bridge close to junctions three at Hyde and four at Hattersley.

Greater Manchester Police initiated an investigation and conducted forensic examinations of a bone. DNA testing confirmed the remains as those of 41-year-old Ajani Campbell. Mr Campbell was reported missing from his mother’s home in Preston on January 24 this year. In an update on GMP’s major incident portal, the force stated he had left the property on Stocks Road and was then seen getting on a train from Preston to Manchester Piccadilly.

CCTV last captured Mr Campbell on Deansgate in Manchester at approximately 1.48am on January 25. The human remains were subsequently discovered on August 3, reports the Manchester Evening News.

In an update earlier this month, GMP announced that next of kin had been identified for the individual and his family had been notified.

Officers said they were still working to determine how the man ended up where he did and what led to his death.

Detectives are now keen to speak with any witnesses, or anyone who may have seen Mr Campbell after his last known sighting on January 25.

Information can be submitted to GMP’s major incident portal here.

A baby whose remains were discovered wrapped in a 1910 newspaper and concealed beneath floorboards was strangled with twine, a coroner has determined.

The violent death of the unidentified infant was deemed an unlawful killing at an inquest held in Crook, County Durham. The skeletal remains of the newborn boy were unearthed during renovations at a Bishop Auckland property in July 2024, prompting a police investigation.

Twine had been wound three times around his neck, knotted, then looped once more. Coroner Crispin Oliver concluded that the infant, referred to as Baby Auckland, was strangled while still alive.

He suggested the most plausible explanation was that the “person in a position to care for him while he was most vulnerable” made the decision to terminate the boy’s life “by means of strangulation using twine as a garotte”.

He added: “As such, this was homicide.” Given the passage of time, there was no possibility of any criminal proceedings, the coroner stated, despite extensive police inquiries.

The inquest heard that the investigation involved DNA testing, a radio carbon expert and a forensic anthropologist, as well as public appeals.

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