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Forty years after the mysterious death of a Colwyn Bay teenager in London, detectives have appealed for anyone with information about the incident to come forward.

Peter Watts was 15 years old when he left a note to his parents at his home in Colwyn Bay.

He said he was planning to help a school friend with homework and would return soon. His family never saw him alive again.

Hours later Peter was discovered collapsed in London in the middle of the Euston Road underpass, around half a mile from Euston station.

A passing cab driver called an ambulance but Peter died in hospital an hour later.

Officers pieced together some of Peter’s last known movements.

The teenager was last seen at his home address at 4pm on Sunday, 18 January 1976.

After a family lunch he told his parents he wanted to finish his homework.

A short while later Peter wrote his parents a brief note and then left his home to purchase a train ticket from Colwyn Bay station to Chester.

He is thought to have travelled on the 5.15pm, Holyhead to London train, but failed to leave the train at Chester.

It is then thought he continued on to Euston, possibly arriving at 9.15pm.

Apart from the guard who sold Peter his train ticket at Colwyn Bay, there were no further confirmed sightings of the 15-year-old.

Peter was found below a bridge at Euston Road underpass at around 1.30am on Monday January 19 by a passing taxi driver.

A post mortem examination gave the cause of death as head injuries consistent with a fall.

There were no marks on Peter’s body to indicate he was pushed from the bridge or had been involved in an earlier struggle.

There was also no evidence of any sexual assault.

Peter was missing his watch and glasses when he was found. These items have never been found.

Peter was described as white, 5ft 11in tall with long brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a long brown leather jacket, trousers and a roll-neck sweater.

Four decades on, the Met’s Special Casework Investigation Team, are releasing details of Peter’s death in an effort to trace anyone who is yet to speak to police about the incident.

Detective Inspector Susan Stansfield, of the Met’s Special Casework Investigation Team, who is leading the investigation, said: “Despite numerous appeals, mystery still surrounds the death of Peter Watts.

“He came from a loving and close-knit family but tragically his parents both died without the answers they were seeking.

“After 40 years, his only surviving relative - his older brother Mark, aged 57 - said this may be his last opportunity to find out what happened to his older sibling.

“At the time Peter went missing, 40 years ago, there were no mobile phones and wide-spread CCTV was not available.

“The investigation continues to be dealt with as an unexplained death and is not being linked to any other investigations.

“We’ve never had any information to suggest that anyone else was involved in Peter’s death but, for the sake of his brother, we would like to speak to anyone who may be able to assist.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Incident Room on 020 7230 7963; alternatively, to remain anonymous, call Crimestoopers on 0800 555 111.