Queensland police continue investigations following discovery of body

Police in North Queensland are continuing their investigations following the discovery of a body at Lake Eacham yesterday afternoon.

An autopsy will now be carried out to identify the person, who police believe is male.

Police say the body has been in the water for some time.

Detective Inspector Geoff Marsh spoke to the media this morning, "It has undertaken some level of decomposition but it's also been partially fossilized which may indicate that it's been at the bottom of the lake for some period of time."

Police say there is a possibility the body could be that of missing swimmer Maurice Shutter, who disappeared from the lake in November 2014.

"We hope to recover DNA to compare with DNA that we have on file from members of a family that lost a person here 18 months ago," said Detective Inspector Geoff Marsh.

Inspector Rolf Straatemeier said, "We had one of the most extensive searches, at least in far north Queensland, which went over 26 days but we failed to find him."

It's believed police were alerted at about 5.30pm on Thursday, after reports a body was found submerged in water.

Circumstances surrounding the discovery are being investigated by detectives and forensic officers from the Tablelands Criminal Investigation Branch.

Police say it could be a number of weeks before the remains are identified.

Anyone with information is urged to come forward.

News break – April 22