Overview

• Police responded just after 2:05pm Tuesday when a passerby reported a body in the caves at Stanford Road and cordoned off the area.
• Specialist teams used advanced equipment to recover the remains on Wednesday afternoon from shafts extending more than 20 metres deep.
• Hangman's Woods deneholes are medieval chalk mines designated a Scheduled Monument and protected as an SSSI for a roosting bat colony.
• Local businesses supported emergency services throughout the multi-day search by providing refreshments at the scene.
• Once formal identification is made, Essex Police will pursue inquiries to establish how the individual entered the deneholes and the cause of death.