The death of a ginger-haired man found in a Huddersfield river remains a mystery – despite inquiries at home and abroad.

The body of the fully-clothed middle-aged man was pulled from the River Colne behind the Syngenta plant in Leeds Road 18 months ago.

But despite extensive investigations nationally and through Interpol, the man has never been identified.

A Huddersfield inquest was told there were no suspicious circumstances and no evidence that the man had been attacked.

The only clue was an orange wristband with the slogan Do Sport Not Drugs written in Lithuanian.

Huddersfield CID spoke to the Lithuanian community in West Yorkshire and contacted authorities in the Eastern European country.

DNA was sent for analysis and appeals were put out in the media but to no avail.

Assistant deputy coroner Mary Burke, recording an open verdict, said she was satisfied everything had been done to identify the man.

The inquest was told how Athmani Idi, a student engineer, spotted the body at 10.15am on September 11, 2012, as he crossed a river bridge on the Syngenta site.

He raised the alarm and the emergency services attended. Firefighters pulled the body from the water. The body had started to decompose and the man had been dead for some time.

A post mortem examination, carried out by Dr Matthew Lyall, found no significant injuries or medical reasons for his death.

There was some bruising on an eye and his forehead but that could have happened after death.

There were no distinguishing marks or tattoos and the man had not been drinking alcohol.

Dr Lyall said he believed the man had drowned but could not be certain due to the length of time he had been in the water.

Det Sgt Neil King, of Huddersfield CID, said the rubber wristband was the only lead but inquiries in Lithuania had come to nothing.

He said fingerprint and DNA checks with Interpol found no match.

An artist’s impression of what the man may have looked like was shown in Lithuanian communities in West Yorkshire and there were house-to-house inquiries in and around Leeds Road.

“One of the few leads came when a member of the public reported a ginger-haired man had been seen working on a car,” said Mr King.

“We made inquiries and many people were shown the image. We located the car we believed was involved but that took us nowhere.”

Mr King said the case had been reviewed and everything possible had been done.

It may now be down to “luck” if the man was ever to be identified.

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