Police are this week awaiting the identification of human remains that were discovered in a sleeping bag by walkers in Ballintempo Forest, near Belcoo on Sunday afternoon last.

A PSNI spokesman confirmed that the remains were that of a man and that detectives were treating the find as, an unexplained death': "It falls between suspicious and non-suspicious. At the moment we don't think it's sinister but, unfortunately, that has to be confirmed. We think the body has been here for quite some considerable time, as far back as 7-8 months, but the remains are definitely those of a man".

Three Belcoo men and a friend from Kesh, Roy Ogle were returning from their walk in the forest on the Garrison Road outside of Belcoo when, Paddy Corrigan spotted what he first thought was a plastic bag covering turf. With him also were father and son, Frank and Kevin Lilley.

"It was on a flat rock, with no cover at all and, when I moved closer, I saw that it was a zip-up sleeping bag. It was a camouflaged bag with Australian motifs, like a kangaroo and writing on it. I could see the outline of a figure inside and, when I opened it up the smallest wee bit, I saw a boot and a leg, and that was that.

"I knew rightaway it was a human being, so we didn't interfere with it and, instead, we went to get the Police and priest. The Police came and opened up the bag and they told us it was definitely a body".

Mr Corrigan said he and his three companions were shocked at what they had found as they made their way home at around 3 o'clock on Sunday last, near were Frank Lilley lives.

"The poor man must have camped there. I know the Police have to establish if death was suspicious or not, but I don't think it was anything other than natural. The one thing I did think at the outset was there were two people in the sleeping-bag because it was big looking. But there was only the one body".

A Post Mortem is to be held.