A MAN whose badly decomposed remains were found dumped at an isolated Exmoor beauty spot was almost certainly an illegal immigrant who had been in Britain for just three or four years before his death. But his identity remains a mystery despite an exhaustive police inquiry lasting more than four years and costing around £120,000, together with extensive forensic and other investigations at regional, national and international level. And at a resumed inquest into his death at Dulverton yesterday (Thursday) - which was adjourned indefinitely without a verdict - West Somerset coroner Michael Rose said he intended to pass all the files to Home Secretary John Reid so he may be better able to see where money needed to be spent - either on more immigration officers or additional police officers. Mr Rose praised the work of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary and said no force could have done more. But he highlighted the number of illegal immigrants in Britain - believed to be between 350,000 and 800,000 - and said it was impossible for the police to take their enquiries any further without identifying the man. After hearing a resume of the lengthy investigation from Detective Chief Inspector John Forrest, Mr Rose said it appeared the man - whose remains were discovered near Winsford Hill in February 2002 and initially mistaken for an animal carcass - was probably from the Indian subcontinent, possibly Pakistan or Bangladesh. The 22 carat gold pendant bearing a message from The Koran found around his neck meant he was probably "not entirely a pauper". Believed to be about 31, Mr Rose said it was his "mere intuition" that the man could have met his death - possibly from a knife wound - in the South West area in 1999 and that the body had been stored in a dry place - possibly a building - before being dumped on the moor.