Detectives are trawling through missing persons records after human remains were discovered at a scrapyard.
Human bones were discovered by a workman at the East Coast Salvage Yard, Essex, just before midday on Thursday and the police were called in.
Officers began to comb the surrounding area near St Osyth and have now discovered the majority of an elderly man's skeleton.
The death is being treated as unexplained.
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The site is set to be transformed into a holiday resort for caravans or lodges and is close to popular beaches which were poised to greet hundreds of day trippers this weekend.
It is believed workers were clearing piles of metal ahead of the proposed development.
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An Essex Police spokesman said today (Saturday): "Specialist officers continued to search the area and found the majority of what is believed to be the skeleton of an elderly man.
"Detectives are treating the death as unexplained and are searching the Essex missing persons records, whilst a forensic examination of the bones takes place."
