The body found in the sea near Arbroath is awaiting specialist forensic identification, it has emerged.
No formal identification has taken place of the body found on Monday, which is understood to have been recovered from an area of lobster pots near the cliffs.
Meanwhile, the family of a missing Arbroath-based Royal Marine face an anxious wait of what could be several days as the procurator fiscal’s office decides the best method of identifying the body.
Ralph Hebden’s wife Sarah gave birth to the couple’s first son on March 22, 11 days after the Toxteth-born man’s disappearance.
The family of the serviceman, who is stationed with 45 Commando, are being kept informed by police after dramatic developments in a search that entered its fourth week on Monday.
Mrs Hebden has since made several emotional public appeals for her husband to return home.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said yesterday: “Inquiries are still ongoing and identification has yet to be made of the body found in Arbroath on Monday.
“The family of missing marine Ralph Hebden are being kept fully aware of any developments.”
Apart from standard facial identification, other avenues open to detectives are DNA testing or odontology examination.
Odontology is the study of irregularities in teeth and their unique makeup as a set, which is as reliable for identification as fingerprinting when compared to dental records.
The body was recovered by lifeboat in water beneath the cliffs known as Carlingheugh Bay in a joint operation with HM Coastguard, and is now in a police mortuary.
Mr Hebden, 32, who has not been seen since he left his home in Arbroath on the morning of March 11, is the only outstanding missing person in the area.