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Police apologise after wrongly identifying body

Brian Farmer,Press Association
Monday 28 June 2010 09:05 EDT

Police today apologised to the relatives of a missing pensioner after wrongly identifying a body found near a pub.

Officers announced at about 8am that remains found in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire on Saturday had been identified as those of 83-year-old Reginald Howse, who went missing from his home in nearby Ramsey in May.

But less than three hours later police said they had made a mistake - and Mr Howse was still missing.

Officers said they now thought that the body was that of a 73-year-old man from Whittlesey, who disappeared on Saturday.

A Cambridgeshire Police spokeswoman said checks were being made in an attempt to confirm the dead man's identity.

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