The remains of Ean Coutts’ body were found at Whitehill Industrial Estate in Glenrothes in September but only identified this week after a facial representation image was released by police in late November.
Police said Mr Coutts lived in Kinglassie for several years and was well known in the village.
In Kinglassie, where a full forensic examination of Mr Coutts’ home in Main Street got underway yesterday, locals said the ex-Army cook had spoken of “starting over again” in a foreign country.
One villager said Mr Coutts had said he was going to Morocco or Thailand with a friend he had made and they planned to set up a business there.
And when he vanished from Kinglassie it was assumed he had moved abroad – where he is understood to have lived before – or returned to a previous home in England.
His council house – which…