A long-haired mystery man in platform boots is at the centre of a new appeal more than 45 years after his death.
A man's body was found beside the A508, which links Milton Keynes and Market Harborough, having been struck by a car in the evening of July 9, 1975. His identity has never been known.
Now, volunteer researchers working with the Locate International agency think the man may have been called 'James Brennan'. They believe he was hitch-hiking home to Middleton, in Rochdale, from the Knebworth Festival in Hertfordshire, where Pink Floyd were on a bill that also featured Captain Beefheart, Linda Lewis and the Monty Python team.
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Locate sets out to solve 'cold cases' using internet and social media research which would not have been available to police at the time. The team has scoured the internet to piece together what may have been the last movements of 'James Brennan'.
The international police agency Interpol took part in the investigation at the time but they drew a blank, and now Locate is appealing for people will come forward to solve the mystery. Clues to the identity of the man - who was aged between 25 and 35 - have been pieced together after months of research.
Locate has discovered that police spoke to a man of a similar description on the evening of July 9, and he gave them the name 'James Brennan'. He told them, in an Irish accent, that he had left home on July 4 to attend the festival. The event on July 5 was huge, with wartime Spitfire aircraft swooping low over the stage as Pink Floyd played.
It is thought that the man who may have been James Brennan set off for home in the north of England some time after the music finished. But he was found dead three hours after police had spoken to him beside the main road north from the festival, the A508.
He had a T-shirt with musical instruments on it which may have been bought at the festival, and wore plaid trousers and brown boots with platform heels and soles. He had a few coins and a stamp in his pocket, as well as a lino-cutting knife.
Researchers want to hear from anyone with any information that might confirm the man’s identity and help his family find out what happened to him.
The man was white and of slim build, with brown eyes and long dark hair. He was last seen in Great Oxenden, Northamptonshire. Investigations suggest that he had possible links in Middleton and may have had family and/or friends in or around Sarah Street.
Locate co-director Steve Shepherd said the organisation is looking for information from people living around Middleton and Rochdale, in particular the Irish community there, and also from anyone who was at Knebworth in 1975.
"Giving people like James an identity is part of what we do," he said. " We were founded as a volunteer-led company to re-examine some of more than 1,000 cases of unidentified bodies found in the United Kingdom every year."
The team makes use of the UK national database for unidentified bodies, which was set up by Rachel Edwards, the sister of Manic Street Preachers rock musician Richey Edwards, who disappeared near the Severn Bridge in 1995.
Locate builds teams of specialists from different disciplines and volunteers from local communities. Its members include former police officers, academics, forensic experts, students and journalists, all giving their time free of charge.
The teams investigate and review the cases to ensure that all that can reasonably be done, has and is being done. There is no charge to families whose cases are re-opened. Anyone with information on 'James Brennan' and Knebworth 1975 is asked to email investigations@locate.international or call 07410 889091.
