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Torso of missing Adelaide man found in wheelie bin

Police say a decomposed torso found in a wheelie bin at a vacant Salisbury South block has been identified as that of missing Andrews Farm man Geoffrey McLean.

Oct 28, 2022, updated Oct 28, 2022
Geoffrey McLean's torso was found in a wheelie bin at Salisbury South in October. Photos supplied.

Geoffrey McLean's torso was found in a wheelie bin at Salisbury South in October. Photos supplied.

McLean was last seen on August 18 and was reported to police as missing on August 29.

On Monday, police said decomposed human remains had been found on an overgrown, vacant block on Cheviot Road at Salisbury South.

SA Police Detective Inspector Brett Featherby told reporters this afternoon that the remains had been identified as belonging to 55-year-old McLean following DNA testing.

But he revealed that only a torso had been located, dumped in a wheelie bin, with police yet to recover the rest of the body.

“Our efforts are now firmly focussed on recovering the rest of Geoffrey’s remains and identifying those persons responsible for his brutal murder,” Featherby said.

“We believe that they were going to bury his remains at that location and may have been disturbed.

“Or they were just lazy and left his remains at that location.”

Featherby said police were currently reviewing CCTV footage to identify who was responsible for dumping the remains.

He said police believed that there was more than one person involved in McLean’s murder and the disposal of his body.

He said McLean – father of a 10-year-old child – was the victim of four “brutal attacks” at his home address prior to his death, with his murder linked to those attacks. 

“On the 10th of April he was attacked by a person with acid,” Featherby said.

“On the 13th of April he was struck with a log-splitter and received serious head injuries on that date.

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“On the 9th of May his vehicle was set alight at that location and on the 10th of May he had a bucket of acid thrown on him causing serious burns to his upper back (and) shoulders.”

Some people are already before the courts in relation to a number of those matters and a review of the four incidents is underway.

McLean’s remains were discovered by a worker clearing long grass on the Cheviot Road property just before 2pm on Monday.

It is not known how long the body had been on the property.

Grass on the block had grown to about a metre and a half high since it was last mowed in March.

McLean was last seen on August 18 and was reported to police as missing on August 29.

He last visited his Andrews Farm house on August 18 – the same date he last used his bank account.

“The gruesome nature of Geoffrey’s murder will have a profound affect on his family, his friends and his loved ones,” Featherby said.

“I ask anyone that has knowledge of where his remains may be that we haven’t located to date to contact the police no matter how small that information is to assist us and his family.”

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