Police traced family of Portland Street Latvian murder victim

Lincolnshire Police have traced the family of a Latvian man who was murdered at his flat in Lincoln on Portland Street.

Vasilijs Ransevs, 33, was found dead by one of his friends when they went for a visit on Sunday, June 16.

Ongoing investigations are now taking place at his house, where search teams are doing a final sweep-up after CSI and forensics investigations this week.

Detective Superintendent Stuart Morrison said: “The post-mortem was carried out and the initial conclusion is that he died of a head injury.

“Some of the work we’ve been doing over the last few days is contacting his relatives. We’ve traced his mother in Latvia and his sister in the Ukraine.

“We’ve spoken to his mother on the telephone via an interpreter, but obviously she’s very upset. We’re still making arrangements with the family as to what their wishes are.

“We can fly over to see them to conduct inquiries, or they can come over here. We’re still working out which ones of those is going to happen.”

Det Supt Stuart Morrison holding media interviews at Lincoln Police Station on June 25, 2013.

Police said Vasilijs Ransevs was living in Lincoln alone in a flat in a converted house on Portland Street, near the High Street end.

Vasilijs Ransevs (33) was found dead at a house on Portland Street in Lincoln.

Before moving to Lincoln he was in Peterborough, mainly doing work via employment agencies, land, packing and process line work.

“He has been living a fairly quiet life in Lincoln as far as we know, although piecing together his life is still a big part of what we are doing,” Det Supt Morrison said.

Ongoing police investigation at the house on Portland Street on June 25, 2013.

Det Supt Morrison added: “We’re doing a lot of work with the community. For a lot of people in the area their first language isn’t English, so that presents us with some challenges. Obviously, people are shocked.

“In the next few days we’ll be producing material in people’s own languages so they can read about the investigation and provide information for us.

“There will also be a dedicated phone line where individuals can hear a message in their own language and they can then leave a message in their language and we can reply to them.”