Shotgun and human remains in burnt out Guernsey car Published duration 15 January 2018

image copyright Guernsey Police image caption Mikus Alps was the owner of car and was reported missing two days later

A shotgun and "other items" were found along with human remains in a burnt out car on Guernsey's south coast.

Police said the "small and large fragments of bones" were found in the car registered to Latvian national Mikus Alps.

The 33-year-old was last seen in the early hours of 8 January, the same day emergency services were called to the car on fire.

Post-mortem tests on the remains are due to be carried out.

Patrick Rice, Guernsey's head of law enforcement, said: "Since news of this investigation was first reported, we have received a letter purporting to be from Mr Alps. This was handed in to police headquarters.

"While sombre and reflective in content, at this stage we cannot prove or disapprove whether this letter was written by Mr Alps."

image copyright Colin Dodd image caption Police say it could take two weeks to identify the human remains

He said: "We are aware that Mr Alps has connections with a pro-Ukrainian and anti-Russian movement.

"Given that it is yet to be formally confirmed whether Mr Alps is alive or deceased, there is no concrete evidence at this stage linking his involvement with this movement to his car being found burnt out."

Mr Rice urged people to "avoid jumping to conclusions or speculating on this case" and said he was committed to providing regular updates.

He concluded: "This is a highly complex investigation and there is much work still to be done as we try to establish the full circumstances.

"We cannot rush it but the community can be assured that we will go where the evidence takes us, not speculation on social media."