AN APPEAL was launched yesterday to put names to eight dead bodies police have been unable to identify for up to 42 years.

Thames Valley Police, UK Missing Persons Bureau, and Crimestoppers, launched Operation Nightingale at the force’s headquarters in Kidlington.

The list of eight unknown dead men include a young man whose body was found on the northbound M40 at junction 7 near Thame nearly 13 years ago. The rest were from outside of the county, The force’s major crime review team is hoping people will come forward with information after it published drawings by a forensic artist showing how the dead may have looked.

Police said the man who died on the M40 in the county may have been an illegal immigrant.

They also believe he died after falling or jumping from a lorry at about 6pm on January 26, 2000.

Det Sgt Craig Kirby said none of the cases were being treated as suspicious.

But he said police were committed to resolving them, adding: “Each one is a person who is likely to have a family, possibly a partner, a child, who has never known what happened to their loved one. We do however need the public’s help.”

Call 101 or email OpNightingale@thamesvalley.pnn.

police.uk.