FRESH clues have emerged in the mysterious death of Mark Hunter, who was found dead in Edinburgh city centre on Tuesday morning.
It has been revealed the 27 year-old was drinking at a pub almost three miles from where a passer-by found his lifeless body face down in a basement garden.
A team of detectives are now scouring CCTV footage from the city centre to trace his footsteps and establish what happened in the eight hours between his sighting at Scottie’s Bar in Portobello and his discovery in North Castle Street.
Mr Hunter’s family are helping police with their enquiry, but were said to be “distraught” at the news of his death.
Officers remain open minded about how Mr Hunter, who was single and lived alone in a flat in Musselburgh’s Moir Terrace, could have died.
But having completed forensic studies at the scene, they insist they now need friends or anyone who saw him on Monday night to come forward.
The early intelligence is “very important” according to Lothian and Borders Police’s detective inspector George Thomson, who is leading the inquiry.
He said: “We have confirmation that he was out for the evening having for a drink at the Scottie’s pub on Monday night and left after 11pm.
“We obviously are now trying to establish how he ended up some distance away in the city centre.
“This is a starting point for us and we now have a team of people trawling through the CCTV footage, of which Edinburgh has a lot, trying to trace his steps.
“We are not treating this in any way other than an unexplained death.”
A post mortem was expected to be carried out last night (Wednesday), but police ruled out local speculation that he had tumbled from the roof above the five-storey building.
The property, which lies empty and is up for sale, remains cordoned off with police protecting the scene.
It is not known how long his body lay undiscovered, but police now have CCTV footage from bars surrounding the area.
DI Thomson added: “We aren’t speaking to every single bar in the city, but we have CCTV from them and if we can pick Mark up on there, then we will be in touch with them.
“The family are all obviously distraught and coping how one would expect them to be coping.
“But at the same time they are trying to do their best to help us with our investigation, which we very much appreciate at this hard time.
“We are still awaiting a post mortem that will hopefully shed some light on this tragic incident.
“In the meantime we are appealing to anyone who was in or around the city centre on Monday night or early on Tuesday morning and may have seen Mr Hunter to contact police immediately.
“Similarly, anyone with information that can assist with our investigation is also asked to come forward.”
Mr Hunter is described as white, 6ft tall with a heavy build and short fair hair.
He was a wearing short-sleeved blue checked shirt, blue jeans and white trainers on Monday night
