He had a twisted nose and tattoos on both shoulders.

He wore black, wire-frame glasses and black sandals with a yellow design on the sole.

And somehow this white, 45-year-old man wound up dead at the bottom of a steep embankment in Sumas Regional Park near Mission.

His skeletal remains were found April 28, but so far police have not been able to identify him through missing persons reports or dental records.

They're not even sure whether he met a violent end.

"It's only suspicious at this point," said Cpl. Dale Carr, spokesman for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. "We're not convinced it's a homicide."

IHIT investigators are now seeking public help, hoping someone will be able to give them a name, which will lead them to friends and family who might be able to provide details of how the man lived, which might explain how he died.

"Even if somebody tells us they haven't seen a friend in seven months, and he wore the same kind of glasses, it gives us a point to start from," Carr said.

The investigators are completely open to all possibilities of cause of death at this stage, he said, from homicide to suicide.

There was little tissue left on the body that would hold signs of a homicide, and even the tattoos on the man's shoulders were no longer clear.

The remains were not buried, but found lying in a stream by some people looking for "an out of the way" party site, Carr said.

The man was of European origin, about 45 years old (plus or minus 10 years), with brown hair and short black hairs on his chin.

He was wearing blue, button-fly Levis jeans with a 33-inch waist and 36-inch leg and a large grey "V" neck sweater. He also wore a pair of Guess black wire-frame prescription glasses and a pair of black, size 11, Columbia sandals with a yellow design on the sole.

Anyone with information about who this person could be is asked to call the IHIT tip line at 1-866-373-7886. Anonymous calls can be made to Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

rfreeman@theprogress.com