FOUR years after the body of a tragic young man was found in woodland near Glasgow, his identity remains a mystery.

Detectives have been unable to solve the riddle of who he was or where he came from.

But today - exactly four years after the grim discovery was made - police are still hopeful that his remains can be returned to his family.

The mystery began on October 16 2011, when a nature photographer reported finding a corpse hanging in woodland in East Dunbartonshire

The Evening Times understands he only made the discovery when looking at the photos he had taken on his computer later that day.

Detectives immediately appealed to the public for help in identifying the man.

But the case continues to puzzle police four years on.

Nobody has come forward to report him missing and nobody has come forward to claim him.

Insiders admit a new appeal is a "long shot" but said the case "would never be closed" as long as his identity remained unknown.

A police spokesman said: "There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death."

A picture, based on scans of his skull, was produced by a team of experts at Dundee University led byProfessor Sue Black (pictured), and later released.

Officers hope the reconstruction, made by a team of specialists from the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, will jog memories.

His badly decomposed body was found in woods at Golf Course Road, near Glen Orchard Road in Balmore.

Bone samples were sent for testing but there was no match on the national police database.

Police and forensic experts believe he was between 20 and 35-years-old, around 5ft 8in tall, with light brown hair.

He was wearing a light-blue polo shirt from Topshop, blue jeans and a navy blue zipper jumper, which had a knitted band around the collar with a white band as well as a Greek Pennsylvania motif.

The polo shirt had white writing on front and a maroon diagonal band running across it.

He was wearing navy and black trainers, which had 'waterproof' written on the sole.

Police even released details of the unknown man's underwear in a bid to identify him.

He was wearing white UrbanSpirit boxer shorts with red waistband.

Beside his skeletal remains was a grey Nike satchel, which contained two razors, a toothbrush, toiletries, headphones, a lighter, cigarette papers and some clothes.

The case is also listed on the Missing Person's Bureau website in the hope that fresh clues will help police finally solve the puzzling case.

A Missing Person's Bureau statement read: "The aim of our website is to publicise information about unidentified people and remains, enlisting the public to help maximise the chances of identification.

"It is hoped the website will empower families of missing people to play an active part in searching for their loved ones and bring vital closure if they are identified.

"The public can review unidentified cases and send details regarding the potential identity via the online reporting form."

Around 40,000 people go missing every year in Scotland and police have complied a database of more than 300 unidentified bodies and body parts.

Some of the unclaimed bodies and remains date from as far back as the 1950s.