In a rare, “last resort” move, Toronto police have released the photo of a dead “John Doe” — a gruesome development intended to help investigators tally the alleged victims of accused serial killer Bruce McArthur.

Warning that the photo was disturbing, Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga stressed at a news conference Monday that he did not want to release the image of the unidentified man, who they believe is among the men killed by McArthur, the former landscaper now accused of six counts of first-degree murder dating back to 2010.

But Idsinga said he had no other choice, having exhausted all other avenues of identifying the man, including canvassing contacts within Toronto’s Gay Village, where the majority of McArthur’s alleged victims have gone missing. Moments later, police released a closeup of a deceased man with dark skin, black hair and a beard — an image Idsinga said was not a composite, but a photograph that investigators had “cleaned up … to remove some artifacts.”

Data from the photo released on the Toronto police website shows it was altered, including by a photoshopping tool to erase and smudge parts of the image.

“We need to put a name to this face and bring closure to this man’s loved ones,” Idsinga said, stressing that anyone with information should come forward to police.

Idsinga refused to say where the photo originated or how it came into the possession of investigators. But sources with knowledge of the ongoing probe have told the Star that investigators uncovered reams of evidence in the case, including digital images linked to McArthur.

The release of the dead man’s photo underscores the possibility that a cache of victims’ images — so-called “trophies,” like those kept by some killers — helped police lay charges in some deaths, even when police have yet to find a body.

“It wouldn’t surprise me, there very well could be photographs of some ... victims,” said Mark Valois, a former Toronto police homicide cop now with the Canadian Tactical Officers Association.

Serial killers frequently have a “collection” of something, whether it be photographs or items of clothing or other mementos, Valois said.

Police also revealed Monday that they have recovered the dismembered, unidentified human remains of a seventh person inside the large planters located at a Leaside home to which McArthur was connected through his landscaping work.

McArthur, 66, is charged with six counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Andrew Kinsman, Selim Esen, Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi, Dean Lisowick and Skandaraj “Skanda” Navaratnam.

Police previously confirmed that the dismembered human remains of six people were located in the planters, three of whom have since been identified through forensic testing. Kinsman was identified through fingerprint evidence, while the identities of Navaratnam and Mahmudi were confirmed through dental records.

Forensic experts are now working tirelessly to identify the four remaining individuals whose body parts were found decomposing inside the planters, Dr. Michael Pollanen told reporters at the conference.

Pollanen, Ontario’s chief forensic pathologist, took part in Monday’s news conference to explain ongoing, exhaustive efforts by an interdisciplinary team of scientists to uncover the identities of the human remains, calling the task an “overwhelming humanitarian objective.”

Equally as important, he said, was the creation of a “reliable data set that can be used in the criminal justice process.”

“This is a unique investigation in the history of our organization. It is drawing on the talents and expertise of essentially everyone in the organization,” Pollanen said.

Neither Idsinga or Pollanen would reveal any information about cause of death, though Idsinga has previously said investigators have some evidence suggesting how some of the alleged victims died.

Idsinga said investigators are planning to continue a ground search at some locations once the weather warms up including at the Leaside home where police seized the planters. “We are continuing those searches,” he said.

McArthur, 66, has been held in segregation at the Toronto South Detention Centre since his arrest in January.

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Mark Mendelson, a former Toronto police homicide investigator, said the move to release the image of a deceased person was a sign the investigators have exhausted other options to identify the man. It is rare, he said, but not unprecedented.

Mendelson did the same in a historic investigation, in a case where a man was fatally shot but police could find no identifying information about the victim; no missing person’s report was filed, either. The man was never identified.

“I had no options, and at the end of the day, it didn’t help,” Mendelson said.

“Hopefully, this works.”

McArthur is due in court later this month.

With files from Bryann Aguilar