Police Commissioner Apologizes for Incorrect Statement About Human Remains in Woodland

A police and crime commissioner has apologised after claiming multiple human remains had been found in woodland during a murder investigation. Alison Hernandez told a meeting of the Devon and Cornwall police and crime panel that 'dead bodies' had been found at Sticker, near St Austell. She said investigations were ongoing to establish exactly how many had been found. However, Devon and Cornwall Police clarified that only the body of one man, 43-year-old Daniel Coleman, had been recovered from the woods and no other remains had been found.

Police and forensic experts have been conducting extensive inquiries in the woodland since the discovery of Mr. Coleman's body. James Desborough, 39, is accused of murdering Mr. Coleman between 2 June and 7 July and is due back before Truro Crown Court next week.

Apologising for her earlier statement, Ms. Hernandez said, 'In trying to be helpful I responded to an operational question at the police and crime panel, however, I was not fully up to date with the facts of the investigation. I apologise for any alarm this may have caused. The police have operational primacy over these matters. Any investigation will unfold rapidly and I was not in possession of all the facts at that time.'

Devon and Cornwall Police rejected Ms. Hernandez's claims, with Detective Superintendent Jon Bancroft stating, 'We currently have three separate murder investigations being conducted in the Cornwall area. I have oversight of all of these investigations at this time, and can confirm they are being carried out independently of each other and are not believed to be linked. I can categorically state that we have recovered remains believed to be those of Daniel Coleman only from an area of woodland in Sticker. No other remains have been located at this scene to date.'

According to the source: Sky News.