"[33] Despite these findings, he could not determine the cause of death of the unidentified man. 2023 BBC. They may or may not have been cohabiting. 28 February 1918: H. C. Reynolds identity card issued. [27] A nationwide circulation of the dry-cleaning marks also proved fruitless. The man was well-built, about 40 to 50 years old, 5. Its hard to see this as anything other than intentional, Fiona-Ellis Jones, host of The Somerton Man Mystery podcast, tells the Australian Broadcasting Companys (ABC) Bridget Judd. ), Carl 'Charles' Webb's prisoner-of-war brother bears resemblance to Somerton Man https://t.co/c7KcGhtiuI. Public interest in the case remains significant for several reasons: the death occurred at a time of heightened international tensions following the beginning of the Cold War; the apparent involvement of a secret code; the possible use of an undetectable poison; and the inability of authorities to identify the dead man. Although poisoning remained a prime suspicion, the pasty was not believed to be the source. 1986: The Somerton Man's brown suitcase and contents are destroyed as "no longer required". Both kidneys were congested, and the liver contained a great excess of blood in its vessels. A professor who has dedicated decades to solving one of Australia's most enduring mysteries claims he has discovered the identity of the Somerton man. [104], In July 2013, Abbott released an artistic impression he commissioned of the Somerton man, believing this might finally lead to an identification. My thread-bare Penitence a-pieces tore.[44]. [36] The paper's verso side was blank. [93] Police stated that the remains were in "reasonable" condition and were optimistic about the prospect of DNA recovery. Interestingly, the book contained several handwritten annotations, including a suspected code and the phone number of a nurse, Jessie Jo Thomson, who lived near the site where the body was discovered. By 4 December, police had announced that the man's fingerprints were not on South Australian police records, forcing them to look further afield. Code experts were called in at the time to decipher the lines, but were unsuccessful,[42] and amateurs also attempted to crack the code. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. [68] Detectives from Victoria initially believed the man was from there because of the similarity of the laundry marks to those used by several dry-cleaning firms in Melbourne. [50], When she was shown the plaster cast bust of the dead man by DS Leane, Thomson said she could not identify the person depicted. Now Australian scientists are close to solving the mystery", "Australia Exhumes the Somerton Man, and His 70-Year Mystery", "After 65 years, new picture could reveal Unknown Man's identity | News.com.au", "How the Somerton Man played cupid from the grave", "Who was the Somerton Man? The body of a man found on a South Australian beach more than 70 years ago has been exhumed in the hope of solving one of the country's most intriguing mysteries. Collins, an inmate of New Zealand's Whanganui Prison, claimed to know the identity of the dead man. Dubbed by authorities and the press as the Somerton Man, the man was found smartly dressed and slumped against a wall on a beach near Adelaide, Australia, in 1948, leading to a labyrinthine . [83], The South Australian Police Historical Society holds the plaster bust, which contains strands of the man's hair. He had a clean-shaven face and appeared to be about 40 years old. [36] Public library officials called in to translate the text identified it as a phrase meaning "ended" or "finished" found on the last page of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Of the discovery, he said: "It kind of feels like climbing Mount Everest, and having that mixture of elation that you're at the top, but also tiredness and exhaustion.". Beyond the DNA results linking the Somerton Man to Webb, Abbott and Fitzpatrick found ample archival evidence supporting the identification. [34], Early in the inquiry, Cleland stated, "I would be prepared to find that he died from poison, that the poison was probably a glucoside and that it was not accidentally administered; but I cannot say whether it was administered by the deceased himself or by some other person. Maciej Henneberg, professor of anatomy at the University of Adelaide, examined images of the Somerton man's ears and found that his cymba (upper ear hollow) is larger than his cavum (lower ear hollow), a feature possessed by only 12% of the Caucasian population. "It kind of feels like climbing Mount Everest, and having that mixture of elation that you're at the top, but also tiredness and exhaustion," he said. In October 1941, he married Dorothy Jean Robertson, who is listed on the couples marriage certificate as a 21-year-old foot specialist. Police suspect the calls may be a hoax and the caller may be the same person who also terrorised a woman in a nearby suburb who had recently lost her husband in tragic circumstances. The Somerton Man code was actually cracked in late June 2020. "It's an story that has captured the imagination of people across the state, and, indeed, across the world - but I believe that, finally, we may uncover some answers," South Australian Attorney General Ms Chapman said. [7] An unlit cigarette was on the right collar of his coat. "We have evidence that he had separated from his wife, and that she had moved to South Australia, so possibly, he had come to track her down.". The police had asked the public if anyone had a copy of the book with the last page missing, and a man came forward with the last page torn out. [32] Soon after being interviewed by police over her harassment, Mangnoson collapsed and required medical treatment. They then tracked down the man's living relatives, using their DNA to confirm his identity. For decades, authorities, academics and the public alike have traded theories about the identity of the mysterious Somerton Man, whose body was found on a beach outside of Adelaide, Australia, on December 1, 1948. He had no money or identification on him, the labels in his clothing were cut off, and his minimal possessions yielded no clues. Tucked in his pockets were cigarettes, matches, a pack of Juicy Fruit gum, a used bus ticket, an unused train ticket and two hair combs. Officer in Charge, No. [107] However, mitochondrial DNA is only inherited through the maternal line, and therefore cannot be used to investigate a hereditary link between Rachel Egan, Abbott's wife, and the Somerton Man. [110] Through investigative genetic genealogy, matches were found for descendants of two distant cousins of Webb, both on the paternal and on the maternal side. You may want to read Twitters cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. [65] Police were skeptical, believing Walsh to be too old to be the dead man. The man was well-built, about 40 to 50 years old, 1.8 metres tall, and had grey-blue eyes and gingery-brown hair that was greying at the sides. 10 p.m.11 p.m.: Estimated time he had eaten a pasty based on time of death. The links to Thomson go back to the scrap of paper with the Persian words for finished found in the mans fob pocket in his trousers. When presented with the Somerton Mans death mask, Thomson appeared completely taken aback, to the point of giving the appearance she was about to faint, according to Detective Sergeant Lionel Leane. SA Police have been contacted for comment. stationed in Australia. (Carls brother Roy also died in a prisoner-of-war camp the same year.) His identity has never been determined, but there are several theories about his origin. He was slumped against a seawall, dressed in a suit and tie. That's fingerprints for you. Webb was then a 35-year-old instrument maker. On December 1, 1948, the body of a man was found on Somerton beach. [103] However, Rachel Egan's DNA has been analysed and links were found to the grandparents of Prosper Thomson. Also in the suitcase was a thread card of Barbour brand orange waxed thread of "an unusual type" not available in Australiait was the same as that used to repair the lining in a pocket of the trousers the dead man was wearing. "So it's not out of the question that these items of clothing he had with TKeane on them were just hand-me-downs from his brother-in-law.". She said that she had received a letter from Boxall and had replied, telling him that she was now married. There is no record of the Adelaide railway station's bathroom facilities being unavailable and no ticket in his pocket to suggest he visited the Public Baths, outside of the station. 14 March 1958: The coroner's inquest is continued. "I would like to see the toxicology done. [77] The two were found by Neil McRae[note 7] of Largs Bay, who claimed he had seen the location of the two in a dream the night before. Experts were unable to pinpoint a cause of death, but three medical witnesses who testified during the inquest agreed that the death was not natural., There was no indication of violence, and I am compelled to the finding that death resulted from poison, city coroner Thomas Erskine Cleland concluded. Derek Abbott, a physicist and electronic engineer at the University of Adelaide, and Colleen Fitzpatrick, a forensic genealogist who specializes in using DNA to solve cold cases, identified the Somerton Man using hairs caught in his death mask. [81], Years after the burial, flowers began appearing on the grave. However, a bus conductor named Leslie Francis Wytkin (or Wytkins) handed in a copy of the. In his pocket were bus and train tickets, chewing gum, some matches, two combs and a pack of cigarettes. Per a 1949 inquest report, a doctor who examined the Somerton Mans remains placed his time of death around 2 a.m. The police believed that Clive had been dead for twenty-four hours when his body was found. [98] Abbott believes an exhumation and an autosomal DNA test could link the Somerton man to a shortlist of surnames which, along with existing clues to the man's identity, would be the "final piece of the puzzle". The last mention of Webb in the historical record dates to April 1947, when he left his wife. VideoThe secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, LGBT troops take love for Eurovision to front line, Why an Indian comedian is challenging fake news rules. Taman Shud Case, also called the Mystery of the Somerton Man, is an unsolved criminal case about a man who never had his name and origin discovered, found dead on December 1, 1948, on the beach at Somerton, city of Adelaide, Australia. [113], The marriage was not a harmonious one, largely due to Carl's personality. "I have spoken to them, except they're all of a generation well below him and so none of them knew himand have no photos in their old family albums or in their garden sheds, unfortunately," he said. Who killed 'Little Red Riding Hood'? They suggested that the Somerton man was Robin's father and, therefore, Rachel's grandfather. At least two sites relatively close to Adelaide were of interest to spies: the Radium Hill uranium mine and the Woomera Test Range, an Anglo-Australian military research facility. [11] In 2009 to 2011, Derek Abbott's team concluded that it was most likely that each letter was the first letter of a word. The case has been considered, since the early stages of the police investigation, "one of Australia's most profound mysteries". [50] The team concluded that it was most likely that each letter was the first letter of a word. He was a Russian spy. However, she also reported that, at some time in late 1948, an unidentified man had attempted to visit her and asked a next door neighbour about her. That's most likely what brought him to Adelaide, the professor said. [17], He was dressed in a white shirt; a red, white and blue tie; brown trousers; socks and shoes; a brown knitted pullover and fashionable grey and brown double-breasted jacket of reportedly "American" tailoring. More recently, links were also found to the grandparents of the man that Jo Thomson eventually married .". What was his cause of death? The Somerton Man had his prints taken a couple of days after he was found and a few weeks later they were forwarded to all the English speaking countries: Scotland Yard, The RCMP (Canada), the FBI, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, then the mammoth task of sending copies to every police station in Australia. No new findings are recorded and the inquest is ended with an. When the bakery closed down, Carl retrained as an electrical instrument maker.
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