John Doe

Status:

Open

Recovery Location:

Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England

Summary:

"Fred the Head" was the nickname given to a man whose remains were found in a shallow grave in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England in 1971. The body was discovered at 7:30 pm on 26 March 1971 by David Nathan. A number of investigations have failed to identify the body and it is now the oldest unsolved missing persons case in Staffordshire.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Recovery:

The body was discovered at 7:30 pm on 26 March 1971 by David Nathan, who was a special constable and employee of Messrs Time Consortium, a jewellers. He was off duty at the time of the discovery which was made while he was walking to an area behind his workplace to carry out some shooting practice. This lay around 100 to 150 yards (91–137 m) from Newton Road on the site of a former flint mill which had been abandoned in the early 19th century. Nathan discovered a fragment of a human skull after he tripped over what he assumed was a bag of cement but was a mound of earth covering a grave. He had been buried in a kneeling position with his hands and feet tied, which led the police to suspect murder. They estimated that the body was that of a white man aged between 23 and 39 and around 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) tall, who had died 12 to 18 months prior. The man had been of thin build and had well-looked-after hands with short fingernails. He was naked apart from a pair of pinkish-beige socks with mustard-coloured heels and toes. He wore a woman's nine-carat gold wedding ring on a finger of his right hand.

Additional Details:

Despite a three-year investigation Staffordshire Police were unable to identify the man who became known as "Fred the Head" as the skull was the first part of the body to be unearthed. Despite the level of decomposition, fingerprints were able to be taken when the body was discovered, but the victim has never been matched to any prints on record. In 2014, Fred's skull was tested by experts from the University of Derby. They concluded that it was likely to be of Hungarian, Danish or British origin. DNA profiling has been carried out on the skeleton, known only as Fred the Head, and although there have been "strong links" with possible family members, these have lead to nothing. The DNA was last tested in 2017/2018 and obviously refreshing that test doesn't change the outcome as we have a full profile. Staffordshire Police became only the second British force to use familial DNA profiling in an attempt to identify the body. The detective made an appeal to viewers on the BBC's Crimewatch Roadshow on June 27, revealing a new facial reconstruction. Det Insp Ison said John Jones, who went missing from Llangollen in 1970, was one of the names he wanted to eliminate from his inquiries. Work had been carried out by a dental expert which suggested similarities between Mr Jones' teeth and the teeth of the man found in Staffordshire. Mr Jones's family made contact with police following the broadcast and media coverage. A DNA sample was taken, however, a match was not provided. In 2021, on the 50th anniversary of his discovery, a fresh appeal was made in order to establish his identity. Fred's case was featured on Crimewatch for the third time in 2021, where it was revealed that police were considering whether he could have been a victim of serial killer Anthony Hardy, who would have been around 20-years-old at the time Fred was killed. Fred the Head is buried in an unmarked grave in Stapenhill Cemetery.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 27, 2026