Body on beach may be busker last seen alive 13 months ago

Matthew Dyet, 59, was last seen on CCTV leaving a supermarket in his home town of Eyemouth, Berwickshire. He was accompanied by his dog Jack.

A kayaker raised the alarm after spotting the remains at nearby St Abbs Head on Saturday afternoon. Forth Coastguard and the RNLI were involved in the recovery operation.

The retrieved bones will now be removed and subjected to DNA analysis to establish the identity of the body.

A police spokesman yesterday would only say that inquiries were at "a very early stage".

Officers investigating Mr Dyet's disappearance released video footage on the first anniversary last month of his last sighting at the supermarket.

He was last seen at 5pm on Tuesday 17 February 2009, and since then there has been no trace of him, despite a search of the Berwickshire coastline at the time.

His cross-collie pet dog was found later in the day in the back garden of Mr Dyet's home.

Mr Dyet was well known in the Killies area of Eyemouth, and used to busk in Berwick-upon Tweed, Galashiels and other towns.

Foul play was not suspected and there were fears at the time that Mr Dyet may have been lost at sea due to Eyemouth's coastal location and the fact he had failed to make contact with relatives and friends.

Last month the police insisted the case was not closed and used the first anniversary of his disappearance to issue a renewed appeal for information.

The appeal included the original footage of Mr Dyet walking Jack in the car park of the Costcutter supermarket in Eyemouth's High Street.

At the time Inspector Janice Etherson said: "This is by no means a closed case, and it is disappointing to have no new leads.

"This case will not close until we can provide some answers for Mr Dyet's family and friends.

"He was well known locally as a busker, so we are trying to jog people's memories today to find out if anyone has any more information that could be helpful to us.

"We won't give up hope of finding out exactly what happened a year ago, and will continue to do all we can until we do."