A SECOND post mortem examination is being carried out on the dismembered body of a young boy found in the River Thames.
Dr Hendrik Scholtz, a South African expert in so-called ritualistic murders, will attend the examination. Officers believe the boy was a victim of a "muti" killing - a murder associated with Africa and "witch doctors". Police have released a graphic depicting the boy - who experts say was around five years old, in the orange shorts he was wearing when the body was found.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "We are hoping the graphic may jog people's memories." The boy was spotted floating in the Thames by a man walking across Tower Bridge on September 21, last year, and had been in the water for up to 10 days.
Police have revealed they found seven half-burned candles wrapped in a white sheet washed up on the southern shore. A name - Adekoye Jo Fola Adeoye – was written on the sheet and the name Fola Adeoye inscribed on the candles.
Forensic experts estimate that the boy, who was of Afro-Caribbean origin, was aged between five and six. Detectives have named him "Adam". A reward of £50,000 has been offered for information leading to the conviction of his killer.
Police have also been liaising closely with detectives in Germany and Belgium where three similar cases have emerged, involving the murder of children whose bodies were disposed of in running water.