The horrifically burnt body found in a lay-by had been decapitated and dismembered, murder squad detectives have revealed.

The remaining torso had been stuffed into a suitcase and then torched just off the A628 Woodhead Pass near the Derbyshire village of Tintwistle.

The shocking revelation was made by a senior officer at a press conference at Glossop police station yesterday afternoon.

Neither the head nor any of the limbs have been found.

The victim, who has not been identified, is a white or light-skinned man age under 50, according to police.

A passer-by found the scorched remains of the torso and the burnt suitcase behind a tree in the lay-by a few metres off the Woodhead Pass – a busy road which links Sheffield and Manchester – just east of Tintwistle village and about six miles from Ashton at around 12.30pm on Monday.

Since Derbyshire Police announced a murder inquiry on Tuesday, witnesses have come forward who have confirmed they saw something burning at the scene on Sunday night.

Greater Manchester Police are working closely with their Derbyshire colleagues in a bid to identify the victim.

Detectives say the man’s body was dumped and torched in the lay-by sometime between 9pm and midnight on Sunday. Although no formal cause of death has been established, they suspect the killer murdered the victim and then decapitated, dismembered and torched the body to thwart attempts to identify the person.

DNA has been retrieved from the body but it does not match any of the profiles held on the police national computer.

The profile has now been sent to Europol as the victim may be a foreign national.

Missing person databases are now being trawled through across the country and all UK police forces are being asked for assistance in the attempt to identify the victim.

Detectives are also continuing to trawl CCTV, although no cameras covered the area where the body was found.

Cameras stationed at other points on the Woodhead Pass are being examined to establish the cars which passed the lay-by at the time the body was dumped on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, drivers who were in the area at the time are being asked to contact police so they can be eliminated from the enquiry.

Anyone with any information about the discovery of the body is asked to call police incident room on 0800 056 0944.

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