A police and crime commissioner has apologised after claiming multiple bodies had been found in a murder probe after two bodies were discovered within 10 miles of each other.
Two murder investigations were launched in Cornwall after two bodies were found in separate woodlands.
Earlier this month, Daniel Coleman’s remains were found in Paramoor Woods near the Cornish village of Sticker.
Officers had been scouring the area for several months – aided by specialist teams from the National Crime Agency – when they found the 43-year-old’s remains.
Mr Coleman vanished last month from St Austell and is thought to have died between June 2 and July 7. A man has been charged with his murder.
The body of Lee Hockey, 50, was also found in a nearby woodland between Truro and Probus on July 1.
Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, previously told a panel several bodies were discovered as part of the investigation into Mr Coleman’s death.
‘We’ve found dead bodies in that wood,’ Ms Hernandez said, adding that officers were trying to work out ‘how many were there’.
The Police and Crime Commissioner has since issued an apology after these claims were refuted by the local police force.
Alison Hernandez,Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, has apologised after claiming multiple bodies had been found in a murder probe after two bodies were found within 10 miles of each other
Daniel Coleman, (pictured) from St Austell, was reported missing on June 1 and is thought to have died between June 2 and July 7
Police are also investigating the discovery of the body of Lee Hockey, 50, who was found in woodland between Truro and Probus on July 1
Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: ‘In trying to be helpful I responded to an operational question at the Police and Crime Panel today, 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.’
Detective Superintendent Jon Bancroft previously confirmed Mr Hockey’s death is being investigated separately.
‘We currently have three separate murder investigations being conducted in the Cornwall area,’ Mr Bancroft said, referring to a third inquiry which was launched after a fatal fire at a residential property in Newquay on July 22.
He continued: ‘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.’
It comes after Ms Hernandez said it had been necessary to bring in extra support to aid the investigation.
‘Some of the elements of that operation I can’t speak about but some of the things are very obvious,’ she said.
‘As you know there is a large crime scene that has been identified in Cornwall that is requiring a lot of effort to even scene guard the area.
‘The level of expertise, some of the mutual aid we’ve brought in, is expertise in specific types of investigations that we didn’t have.
‘The National Crime Agency is supporting the organisation at the moment.
‘I want to thank all the other forces that are coming in at a very busy time for themselves to offer mutual aid. It’s largely investigative mutual aid that we’ve brought in.
‘Until some of those elements have been established of exactly what we’re dealing with there, it will be made public at that time.
‘I know there’s been some information in the media. We’ve got a huge forensic tent down there.’
Officers investigating the disappearance of Daniel Coleman, 43, found his remains in the area earlier this month
The National Crime Agency was drafted in to help Devon and Cornwall Police scour Paramoor Woods outside the Cornish village of Sticker
A large police presence was seen in the woods near the Cornish village of Sticker
Police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez said the National Crime Agency had been brought in to support the investigation
James Desborough, 39, of Lower Sticker, has been charged with the murder of Mr Coleman (pictured)
When asked 10 days ago about ‘multiple bodies’ in the search area, Devon and Cornwall Police said they were working to recover Mr Coleman’s body and that forensic investigations of the site related to him
Mr Coleman was reported missing on June 1. James Desborough, 39, of Lower Sticker, has been charged with his murder.
Desborough has since appeared before Bodmin Magistrates’ Court and was remanded in custody. He is due to appear before Truro Crown Court on August 8.
When asked 10 days ago about ‘multiple bodies’ in the search area, Devon and Cornwall Police said they were working to recover Mr Coleman’s body and that forensic investigations of the site related to him.
The third murder inquiry follows a fatal fire at a residential property in Newquay on July 22.
The body of a man in his 30s was found in the property and a 33-year-old man from Bolton was arrested on suspicion of murder.
