The mother of a man missing for 18 years said she was "hoping for some peace" after human remains were found close to where he disappeared.
Terry McSpadden was 24 when he was last seen on 2 March 2007 after spending the evening in the Locomotive pub in Wisbech, close to the Norfolk-Cambridgeshire border.
On Sunday, police were called to Lynn Road, Walton Highway, near Wisbech after a discovery of partial human remains by a member of the public.
Mr McSpadden's mother, Helen Thrower, confirmed that police had contacted the family about the find.
She said: "It's too early to say whether it's Terry or not.
"Me and other people whose family members are missing, we're hoping for some peace. Until we get some identification, we can't know."
The father of two had been working as a window fitter and had been at the Locomotive pub in Wisbech the night he went missing.
He was seen on CCTV withdrawing money from a cash machine at Tesco at 01:00 GMT, and buying goods in the store.
He never turned up at work that Friday morning and his hand-painted black mountain bike, which he used for local transport, was never recovered.
In 2013, a crown court judge threw out a murder prosecution on grounds of insufficient evidence. Three years later, Norfolk Coroner's Court ruled Terry likely died the day he disappeared.
A cordon was put in place after officers were called to a field near a retail park, close to Walton Highway in Norfolk, on Sunday morning.
A spokesperson said: "Officers are exploring a number of lines of inquiry."
On Thursday, the force said the cordon was expected to be in place for a "significant" time and officers would be there in "coming days".