Major update in the cold case mystery of a decomposed and dismembered body after cops find a human foot in a bucket

THE discovery of a human foot in a bucket during a death investigation has led to new information in a cold case.

Police determined the foot belonged to a man whose decomposed and dismembered body was found in 2016.

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After years of investigation and DNA sampling, police in the St. Tammany, Louisiana community were finally able to identify the victim as Kleanthis Konstantinidis.

Konstantinidis’ badly decomposed body was found on Highway 90 by a “passerby” all those years ago, police said in a statement.

Both arms were missing, as was one of his legs below the knee.

An autopsy confirmed the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, but his identity remained a mystery.

The coroner believed the body belonged to a man, about 65 years old and about 5ft 10 inches tall.

The victim had a scar on his chest, believed to be from open-heart surgery.

However, due to the condition of the corpse, his age and race could not be confirmed.

The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office said its detectives sent a DNA profile to Parabon NanoLabs.

The company provided a sketch of what they believed the victim may have looked like based on their advanced DNA testing.

The sketch was released to the public and police investigated several leads, but none led anywhere.

That is, until 2019, when detectives working on an investigation in Mississippi found a human foot in a bucket on a deceased person’s property.

The Bliloxi, Mississippi police then contacted the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff when they discovered that the foot’s DNA matched the sample found on the body.

“Thanks to the assistance they received from the LSU FACES Lab, the non-profit DNA Doe Project and the Biloxi Police Department, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Detectives were able to determine what they believed was a positive identifier of their victim,” it said Sheriff’s office said.

Konstantinidis had a relative in the northern United States who provided a DNA sample that led to the victim’s positive identification.

Konstantinidis was officially identified as a victim this week, but police have yet to confirm who killed him.

According to WWLTV, Phillip Pointer, the late owner of the home, has been identified as the “prime suspect” in the case.

Pointer died of natural causes, police said.

Detectives are still trying to figure out how the two were connected and what led to Konstantinidis’ death.

Investigators are also working to determine the location of the murder.

“I applaud our investigators who have worked through this very complicated case and have sought available resources and technology to identify the victim,” said Sheriff Randy Smith.