The bones of a 34-year-old man were found in a field by a member of the public in May 2025
Mystery remains around the cause of death of a man whose bones were found in a field last year, an inquest has heard. Human bones were found by a member of the public in a field off Lynn Road in Walton Highway, near Wisbech, on May 18, 2025.
The remains were confirmed to be Sergei Voitechovic, aged 34. An inquest was held at Norfolk Coroners Court in Norwich on Friday (August 14), and heard by Coroner Maeve Sykes.
The court heard from Detective Sergeant Melanie Reid from Norfolk Police that during investigations, police discovered Sergei was reported missing to Cambridgeshire Police in October 2018.
Sergei’s sister reported him missing, and said October 2018 was the last time she had heard from him. Sergei’s cause of death could not be confirmed due to the “significant amount of time passed” between Sergei’s disappearance in 2018 and the discovery of his bones on May 18, 2025.
Coroner Sykes concluded that Sergei’s death was “unascertained”, due to the time of when his bones were discovered.
DS Reid said there had “never been any suggestion” of a third party involvement in Sergei’s death. She added: “What cannot be established is how he died due to the time that has passed and the conditions of the remains.”
DS Reid told the court that the police could also not “identify [Sergei’s] last movements or contact [to people]” in the lead up to his death, due to the time passed. DS Reid added that his remains “may have been scattered by wildlife and further buried by farm machinery”.
However, the depth at which the remains were found did not signify to police that they had been “buried”.
Earlier in the inquest, the court heard a statement from Debbie Garrett, who discovered the bones on May 18. A statement read out in court on behalf of Ms Garrett heard that on March 1, 2025, as she was walking to a bus stop on Lynn Road, she noticed what seemed like a “diamond ring”, alongside other items including red roses, 10p coins and food items.
After seeing these items, she researched if they were of “significance” and she claimed that through her research, the type of items were linked to a “solar event”. The court heard how Ms Garrett continued to look at the spot where the items were found over a number of weeks.
Her statement claimed that “every three weeks – new items” would appear in the same spot. After speaking to her gardener about the items, the pair “speculated they were part of a cult offering”.
The court also heard that Ms Garrett claimed she could hear a “poorly played flute” coming from a similar area of the field every night, and she “linked this to the offerings”. DS Reid confirmed that the “offerings” found where Sergei’s remains were found were not linked to him.
On the day that Ms Garrett discovered the bones, she found a sock that was “full of bones”, which she believed to be human. A forensic report read out in court confirmed these to be Sergei’s left foot, which were found with rib, femur and vertebrae bones belonging to Sergei.
The court also heard evidence from the owner of Richardson’s Bambers, the field where the bones were found, an employee of the field owner and the owner of farm machinery that were contracted to plough and cultivate the field.
Evidence heard from the three men mentioned that there was a “person living in a tent” in a woodland near Lynn Road. However, there was no mention if this could have been Sergei. A statement read out on behalf of Freddie Gordon, an employee of the field owner, heard how he had worked for the owner since 2015.
During this time, his work was to “maintain” the field, including ploughing and cultivating it every year between September and November. In his statement, Mr Gordon said he had seen “jewellery and flowers” within the field on occasion.
The court heard that when Mr Gordon carried out his work, it required him to “remain vigilant and aware of surroundings”. He added that it was “unlikely he would miss anything”, such as the bones.
The court also heard how he remembers spotting an A4 letter, which was “sentimental in nature – possibly a love letter”. However, there was no link to Sergei mentioned in the inquest.
A statement of evidence was also read out on behalf of Sergei’s ex-partner Agatha. The court heard how the pair met at school in Lithuania in 2013, but broke up in 2014 when Agatha moved to the UK.
She was first contacted by Norfolk Police after a Ladbrokes card in her name had been found and it was “linked to an incident” concerning Sergei. The court heard how Sergei and Agatha had one biological child together, and another child that “Sergei considered his own”.
Agatha’s statement read that Sergei had a “drug and gambling addiction”, which resulted in Sergei accumulating at least £10,000 of debt in Agatha’s name. Due to Sergei’s addictions, Agatha separated from him in 2018.
The last time she heard from him was when he left her a voicemail stating he was “sorry”, but Agatha felt the call had “no emotion to it”. Sergei’s mother kept in “sporadic contact” with Agatha until 2021, as his mother was unable to get in contact with him. However, the contact between Agatha and Sergei’s mother ended.
Coroner Sykes gave a narrative conclusion in the inquest. She said: “Sergei Voitechovic had resided in the United Kingdon from 2015 until 2017 with periods in and out of the United Kingdom thereafter.
“He is confirmed to have returned to the United Kingdom on July 11, 2018. A missing person report was filed with Interpol shortly after and Interpol requested Cambridgeshire police assistance. Sergei remained a missing person and all police and family efforts to find him proved fruitless.
“On May 18, 2025, human bones, and a wallet were found at a field adjacent to Lynn Road, Walton Highway, Norfolk by a walker. Post-mortem testing confirmed that these belonged to Sergei Voitechovic. It was not possible to ascertain a cause of death.”
The inquest concluded with Coroner Sykes offering her condolences to the family and friends of Sergei.
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