POLICE are appealing for a bus passenger to come forward as he could have been the last person to see a teenager alive.

Aaron Booth, from the Catterick area, was found dead at about 8.30am last Thursday (December 11), in the Glenholme area of Crook.

His death is not being treated as suspicious.

The 17-year-old caught the 10.10pm bus from Darlington to Crook on Wednesday, December 10, and it is believed he got into a conversation with a man who got on at Bishop Auckland bus station.

Shortly after 11pm, at the end of the route in Crook, both of them left the bus and walked off together in the direction of Crook Town Football Club.

Detective Constable Tony Kent, of Durham Police, said: “The last confirmed sighting we have of Aaron before his body was found the next morning was when he walked off with the other bus passenger.

“Aaron’s death is not being treated as suspicious and we do not believe this man is linked in any way to it. However, potentially, he is the last person to have seen the teenager alive.

“We are keen to establish why Aaron had headed to Crook, as he has no links that we are aware of with the area.

“It is possible that during the conversation between him and the bus passenger he said something that would shed some light on that. We would urge that man to get in touch with us.”

Anyone who can help identify the man in the picture is asked to contact police at Crook via the non-emergency number 101.