UPDATE: The human remains that have been washing up along the Maribyrnong River are believed to belong to a Melbourne man aged in his late 30s, who was not a missing person.
The possible breakthrough was made when a close member of the man’s family identified a tattoo of a devil on his forearm, which police released through the media last week.
That family member walked into the North Melbourne police station and notified police they had recognised the tattoo, detective inspector Mick Hughes said on Sunday.
“It’s a tragic way for the family to find out but it has progressed our investigation,” he said.
Detectives are awaiting the results of forensic testing, a process that could take several days, before releasing the man’s identity.
The man was last known to reside near the Melbourne CBD. He had last been in contact with his family during the Christmas period, Inspector Hughes said.
“Once we definitely confirm it’s him, we’ll really extend our investigations into relation to relatives and friends and locations that he was known to frequent,” he said.
The man was not believed to have been known to police.
The development of a possible identity means that police would be able to test the man’s identity through his DNA far faster than if they had been checking it against their databases, he said.
“We think we’re on the right track, everything points to it, the description by the relative, we’re all but sure its him,” Inspector Hughes.
Body parts including an arm and a leg have been floating to the surface of the river in Melbourne’s north-west since Thursday.
On Sunday two more body discoveries were made, the first by a female rower near the Maribyrnong Road Bridge at about 8am when she spotted something inside a plastic bag.
A striking similarity has also emerged between a devil tattoo inked onto an arm earlier pulled from the river and the cover art of a punk album.
The investigation and search was launched on Thursday after a forearm was spotted floating nearing the Boathouse at the Boulevard.
Other remains were discovered a short time later, but police have not revealed the details of the second grisly find.
On Saturday, divers entered the river again when a local man spotted part of a leg poking out of a shopping bag on the river’s edge, about 500 metres from where the arm was found.
Detectives racing to identify the remains had released an image of the forearm tattoo, revealing what appears to be a devil character holding a spray can.
Web sleuths on the reddit forum were quick to point out the similarity to a devil depicted on the cover of Sydney punk band Downtime’s late 90s album Tooth and Nail.
Earlier, Inspector Hughes said the response from the public had been “tremendous”.
“Despite the confronting nature of these discoveries people have acted quickly and contacted police immediately,” he said.
“The information provided has enabled investigators to act quickly and secure the items proving crucial in the investigation.”
The Maribyrnong is a tidal river, which has complicated the search effort, Inspector Hughes said. “its a pretty hard bit of water to search,” he said. “We haven’t found all the body parts and we just ask residents to contact police and we’ll certainly respond to that.”
He said it was impossible to say what sort of person would have disposed of the body.
“Some people do things out of panic,” he said.
“If the offender’s out there we’re just methodically working our way towards him or her and if they would like to contact crime stoppers we’ll certainly make ourselves available.
“A lot of people find themselves in circumstances they’ve got no control over.”
Inspector Hughes said he did not believe the death was gang related.
Police urge anyone who sees anything suspicious in the Maribyrnong River to notify police immediately on triple-0.
Divers were continuing to scour the river on Sunday and expect to discover more body parts.
The search will continue “spasmodically,” as other sightings come to light, Inspector Hughes said.
