Police are hoping that a distinctive tattoo found on the badly decomposed body of a man whose remains were found off a dirt road in Melbourne will help to identify him.
An artist's impression of the large tattoo covering the man's entire back has been released by police.
The tattoo features a roaring tiger at the base of the man's back with the swooping eagle above it on the upper back region.
The two animals are surrounding by swirling designs and clouds and the image is in black ink.
The man's remains were found by a retired policeman who was walking with his wife and their dog on North Valley Road at Park Orchards in Melbourne's east about 8pm (AEDT) on Friday.
An autopsy was carried out on the body on Saturday but the cause of death is yet to be established.
It is believed the body is of a middle-aged man who had been lying dead for two weeks off a dirt road at Park Orchards, Homicide Squad Acting Senior Sergeant Wayne Cheesman told reporters on Saturday.
"Because of the state of decomposition we are still doing some forensic tests to establish the race of the person," he said.
"We do believe it's male, possibly 175cm tall, we know the person probably had long, shoulder length black hair.
"There is severe trauma to the person's head, so we believe he's been struck a number of times by a heavy, blunt object.
"It's quite gruesome, very gruesome actually."
The retired police officer and his wife who found the body had noticed a bad smell in the area for a fortnight.
When they went to investigate, they saw a leg protruding out of plastic and bedding wrapped around a body.
Although the body was in bushland it is part of a residential area.
The person had two diamond earrings in his left ear, one a silver diamond stud and the other a diamond encrusted sleeper, and reading glasses were found in the wrapping around the body.
"We are going through our missing persons reports and our records on tattoos, so hopefully we can make some progress through our forensic testing and those inquiries," Snr Sgt Cheesman said.
"We also ask for people to come forward ... any help makes our job easier.
"If anyone in the area in the last two weeks saw cars coming or going, anything suspicious, call Crime Stoppers."
Snr Sgt Cheesman said he did not believe a series of bodies discovered around Victoria in recent days were linked, including that of a man's body on the Mornington Peninsula and a body that washed up on a beach at French Island.
"It's a busy time for us but there is no indication they are connected," he said.
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