Do human bones found in Kempsey belong to Brenda Venables?

The bones were found at the bottom of a septic tank by workman carrying out maintenance, who then tipped off police. Police have not revealed the exact location of the find, but this paper understands it was in Bestmans Lane.

The grim discovery took place last Friday and, in the days, since police have been investigating the mystery.

Officers have been checking the missing person’s database, and have said they don’t believe the remains to be connected to the Met Police’s missing person investigation for Suzy Lamplugh.

In a statement on Thursday, Superintendent Damian Pettit, South Worcestershire’s Local Policing Commander, said: “We are conducting a very thorough investigation and have multiple lines of enquiry to explore and one of which is into the disappearance of a woman from Kempsey that was launched in 1982.”

Villagers have been speculating that the remains are those of Mrs Venables, who is understood to have lived in Kempsey and who went missing around this time.

One villager, who did not want to be named, said: “Nobody ever seemed to know what happened to her.

“She went missing one night - the family have never had closure.”

A West Mercia Police spokesman said that they are treating the investigation as an unexplained death and are working to try to identify the remains, in a bid to progress the investigation.

“Until we have formal identification we are not in a position to link the remains to any particular person at this stage,” the spokesman added.

The spokesman also confirmed police have not made any arrests.

Supt Pettit added: “This is understandably a concerning discovery for the people living in and around the village of Kempsey.

“Thankfully findings of this nature are very rare.”