Following the discovery of a car found on fire and the body of a man found within, detectives from Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Teams are continuing significant enquiries and appealing for information from the public.
A post mortem has been carried out and detectives can now confirm the death is being treated as suspicious.
The identity of the man is still unknown, however officers are confident they will be able to establish who he is.
Detective Chief Inspector David Scott of the Major Investigation Teams, said, “Enquiries carried out so far indicate the circumstances surrounding the death of the man to be suspicious and we are appealing for the assistance of the public to help with our ongoing investigation.
“We are working to identify the deceased who was found within the car. Enquiries so far suggest the man is likely to be under 40 years of age. The recovery of the man’s body and subsequent efforts to identify him are proving challenging given that the car was completely burnt out, however, we have significant forensic testing underway and are hopeful we’ll be able to identify him soon.
“The car involved was a black Mercedes GLE, which we know was stolen from the Oxgangs Road area of Edinburgh on Thursday 24 January 2019.
“We have established that the car was in the Morningside area of Edinburgh for several days. However, on the morning of Monday 11 February, the Mercedes was near East Kilbride town centre before being found on fire near Greenhall Park, Blantyre later that evening.
“We are working closely with officers in the Edinburgh and East Kilbride areas to try to establish the movements of that car however, I would ask anyone who has any information on a car of this type being seen in the areas of Morningside, Edinburgh, East Kilbride and Blantyre, to come forward urgently. “East Kilbride town centre is usually busy with pedestrians and motorists. I would ask people to think back and consider if they saw this car and the occupants within. Any small piece of information could be significant.
“Similarly, I would ask the residents in Morningside, Edinburgh to think back to the days after Thursday 24 January, could you provide any information to police that might help? We need to know where that car was between 24 January and 11 February. Please come forward with any information you might have.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
