The parents of a man who was found dead on the playing field in a quiet Norfolk village are to write to the chief constable urging police to re-examine his death.
Steven Rouse, 53, who lived in Tibenham, was discovered at the Turnpike community playing field in Bunwell on October 26, 2018.
His parents Bill and Gloria Rouse, who live in Lewisham in South London, are set to mark the fourth anniversary of his death by appealing to police to look again into how he came to be found.
In 2019 an inquest found that Mr Rouse took his own life, but his parents have doubts about the circumstances surrounding his death.
The inquest was told that the medical cause of his death was hanging.
Mrs Rouse said: “We know for a fact that Steve was often heard making it known he couldn't understand why people didn't talk to somebody, hence avoiding suicide, and that he could never do that.
“He mentioned this only days before, so to be found in a children's playground just hours later goes totally against his principles and definitely does not make any sense.”
His parents said they had turned to a forensic professor who had raised concerns about whether the circumstances in which his body was found was compatible with him taking his own life.
The couple now plan to petition the chief constable with the findings in a bid to get police to look again.
“The forensic professor said we should have been told that if we disagreed with suicide the case could be left open,” said Mrs Rouse. “Now it is a mountain to climb to get the case reopened.”
Mr and Mrs Rouse believe someone must have seen their son, or the black Audi A4 S-Line car he had borrowed for a trip to the Lake District over the previous four days, between 10.30pm on October 25 and 11.30am on October 26.
Two mobile phones and his desktop computer found to be missing after his death have never been found.
His parents have unsuccessfully tried to access his phone records as part of efforts to discover more about his final hours.
“We think he must have been in the South Norfolk area during those hours,” said Mrs Rouse.
• Anyone with information can submit it on 07888 613937 or via bnr6687@hotmail.co.uk
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