A man found dead after being arrested in the Kesgrave Hall child sex abuse inquiry was once named among 28 notorious paedophiles who were missing nationally.

More details have emerged about the past of ex-care worker Kenneth Wheatley who was also under arrest in relation to the renewed large-scale inquiry into child abuse in north Wales care homes being conducted by the National Crime Agency.

Wheatley was known by the name Kenneth Scott when he worked at Kesgrave Hall boarding school.

Last week it was reported he had been jailed for eight years in Leicestershire in 1986 for buggery and gross indecency.

Now it can be revealed Scott’s whereabouts were listed as unknown 14 years ago following Sir Ronald Waterhouse QC’s Lost in Care inquiry into abuse in north Wales.

Scott’s name was on a list of 28 people sought by the Department of Health in 2000.

At the time they were said to have been among the most dangerous and notorious paedophiles included the original north Wales investigation.

Kenneth Andrew Scott, then of Tanllwyfan, was jailed in 1986 for abusing three boys aged 14 to 16. He was later employed as warden of a youth hostel.

Scott was arrested last month on suspicion of indecent assaults on boys in the 1970s when he worked at Kesgrave Hall.

The 62-year-old was taken to Barnsley police station before being bailed until August 13.

Scott was also interviewed by officers the National Crime Agency’s Operation Pallial. He was questioned in relation to two allegations of indecent assault, believed to have taken in place in North Wales in 1976 against a boy then aged 13 or 14.

Scott’s body was found on a railway line near Barnsley, two days after he was bailed.

A former teacher at Kesgrave Hall and another member of staff at the boarding school have also been arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing boys there.

The allegations date from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Both men, from Pontefract and north Norfolk, are currently on bail.

The arrests are as a result of a new investigation by Suffolk Constabulary into allegations by ex-pupils at Kesgrave Hall.

Suffolk police originally conducted an inquiry in 1992 after allegations of physical abuse were made. Four care workers were suspended. They were re-instated at the end of the inquiry.

Kesgrave Hall boarding school closed in 1993.