Forensic teams finish examining home of Fife man who it is suspected was killed and dumped in Glenrothes industrial estate

The remains of Ean Coutts’ body were found at Whitehill Industrial Estate in Glenrothes in September but were only identified earlier this month after a facial representation image was released by police in late November.

A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder but later released pending further enquiries.

Police said Mr Coutts, who was 61, had lived in Kinglassie - two and a half miles from where his body was found - for several years and was well known in the village.

A full forensic examination got underway 12 days ago at his former home in Main Street and a police dog trained to sniff out even the tiniest amount of human remains was deployed in the council house. Scotland has a number of cadaver dogs which have been used in a string of high-profile murder investigations and missing persons searches.

Pictures taken on Monday this week show the home has now been boarded up, and police confirmed enquiries into the death are ongoing.

Plans to ‘start over’

As news of Mr Coutts’ death emerged earlier this month, locals told of how the ex-Army cook had spoken of “starting over again” in a foreign country.

One villager said Mr Coutts had said he was going to Morocco or Thailand with a friend he had made and they planned to set up a business there.

When he vanished from Kinglassie, it was assumed he had moved abroad - where he is understood to have lived before - or returned to a previous home in England.

His council house, which appeared to have been abandoned, was later let to new tenants who do not form part of the investigation into his disappearance and death.

A facial reconstruction image, based on data from human remains, was released on November 27 by Liverpool’s John Moores University after initial attempts to identify the victim had failed.

The human remains were discovered by a group of people interested in exploring abandoned buildings and they raised the alarm with police.

Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Houliston, of Police Scotland’s Major Investigation Team, previously revealed that police had received a “significant number of responses” to the facial representation which allowed them to identify Mr Coutts.

DCI Houliston also confirmed police are treating the death as suspicious and that officers would be carrying out enquiries in and around the Kinglassie and Glenrothes areas as part of their investigation.

He said it is “vital” that police are able to establish the events leading up to his death to provide answers to his family.

DCI Houliston has appealed to anyone who knew Mr Coutts or may have had contact with him from around August 2019, and anyone who has information that could assist with their investigation, to contact police urgently.

Anyone with information should contact police on 101 and quote incident number 2692 of Sunday, September 27 2020.

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