Old photo key to naked body mystery

An old black and white photograph has been found near the body of a naked man that washed up on a popular English beach last week.

London's Daily Mail reports that police in Cornwall are now treating the discovery of the man, who was wearing only shoes and socks, as a murder investigation.

The unidentified man, who appears to have suffered 'numerous' injuries, was found in the surf on Perranporth Beach last Tuesday.

Police say other items discovered near the body include a set of keys and a faded black and white photo of a boy, according to the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail reports that the white man is aged between 50 and 70 and has white receding hair with a bald patch and a thick white beard.

A day after the body find, a navy blue Regatta coat was found nearby containing a wallet and a faded picture of a child.

A date on the back of the photo reads April 13, 1952, but it is unclear what this refers to or if the jacket and wallet even belonged to the dead man. His injuries are understood not to be consistent with drowning, and it is believed the man had something wedged in his throat, says the Mail.

Police Det. Chief Insp. Dave Thorne said officers were now treating the discovery as suspicious.

"The change in tack has come about as a result of the post-mortem," he said. "There are injuries on his body that we are not able to explain, and as a result of that we are treating the death as suspicious.

"We are not happy that they were caused by natural means or through rock or sand abrasions. We can't really avoid the fact there may be a third party involved. They are external injuries over various parts of his body.

"We think he was in the water for between 12 and 24 hours."

A police spokesman said the man's fingerprints had been sent to Interpol.