Officers were called to an area of beach near to the Wellington Pier during the early hours of Wednesday morning (4 May 2022) at about 1.30am after a fisherman reported finding a body part.
Police attended and recovered the remains which were taken to the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston.
A Home Office post-mortem examination was completed and following DNA tests, police have been able to identify the man.
Pending formal coroner proceedings, police have provisionally identified the body part belonging to Colin Wood, 53. Mr Wood’s family have been informed.
Officers have now launched an investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding Mr Wood’s death, which is being treated as unexplained.
Detective Chief Inspector Holly Evans, who is leading the enquiry, said: “We are keen to understand how Mr Wood came to be in the water and would like to hear from anyone who may have known him or has information which could help with our enquiries.
“We know that Mr Wood lived in the Great Yarmouth area. He’d had limited contact with friends and family in recent months and as a result we’ve released a photograph of Mr Wood in the hope it could help jog someone’s memory if they’d seen him.”
Anyone with information should contact Great Yarmouth CID on 101 quoting reference 37/27025/22.
