The coat had not been imported, indicating the man had been to America or bought it from someone of similar size who had been.[16][28]. From there, the trail went cold. Read about our approach to external linking. [48] Nevertheless, the names Feltus used in his book were pseudonyms. [32], In 1949, the body of the unknown man was buried in Adelaide's West Terrace Cemetery, where the Salvation Army conducted the service. In a 1978 television interview Stuart Littlemore asks: "Mr Boxall, you had been working, hadn't you, in an intelligence unit, before you met this young woman [Jessica Harkness]. The 5-foot-11, 40- to 50-year-old man carried no money or identification. Cryptic clues about man found on an Adelaide beach in 1948 spawned theories of jilted lovers and cold war spies but the truth may open up even more questions. What, if anything, was his connection to Thomson? (modern). A man showed police a 1941 edition of Edward FitzGerald's (1859) translation of Rubaiyat, published by Whitcombe and Tombs in Christchurch, New Zealand. Both kidneys were congested, and the liver contained a great excess of blood in its vessels. Fitzpatrick told the Guardian she and Abbott started with a match in a DNA database (a so-called DNA-cousin to Somerton man) and then built out his family tree until they found someone who fit the description of who they were looking for. Solving the Somerton man mystery: no Russian spy, just a bit of a loner The pathologist, Dr. Dwyer, concluded: "I am quite convinced the death could not have been natural the poison I suggested was a barbiturate or a soluble hypnotic". A suicide note perhaps? Sleuths amateur and professional alike have been puzzled for years by the discovery in 1948 of an unidentified man's . The handwriting found in the back of a book of the Rubiyt of Omar Khayym, theorised to be a sort of code. There was congestion of the pharynx, and the gullet was covered with whitening of superficial layers of the mucosa with a patch of ulceration in the middle of it. WRGOABABD [57] In the front of the copy of Rubaiyat that was given to Boxall, Jessica Harkness had signed herself "JEstyn" [sic] and written out verse 70: Indeed, indeed, Repentance oft before [115] South Australia Police had not verified the result, but stated they were "cautiously optimistic that this may provide a breakthrough". Tamam Shud Case: Everything We Know About The Somerton Man - PEDESTRIAN.TV [2] There has been intense speculation ever since regarding the identity of the victim, the cause of his death, and the events leading up to it. [27], Around the same time as the inquest, a tiny piece of rolled-up paper with the words "Tamm Shud" printed on it was found in a fob pocket sewn within the dead man's trouser pocket. [16], In 1978, ABC-TV, in its documentary series Inside Story, produced a programme on the Tamm Shud case, titled "The Somerton Beach Mystery", where reporter Stuart Littlemore investigated the case, including interviewing Boxall, who could add no new information,[51] and Paul Lawson, who made the plaster cast of the body and who refused to answer a question about whether anyone had positively identified the body. Somerton man mystery 'solved' as DNA points to man's identity He added that there was sufficient DNA evidence to "definitively"disprove any links with his wife Rachel Egan, whose father ballet dancer Robin Thomson was believed to have potentially been a descendant of the Somerton Man. His identity has never been determined, but there are several theories about his origin. Cookie Settings, Illustration by Meilan Solly / Photos via, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, The True Story of the Koh-i-Noor Diamondand Why the British Won't Give It Back. [11] They speculated he had showered and shaved at the adjacent City Baths (although there was no Baths ticket on his body) before returning to the railway station to purchase a ticket for the 10:50a.m. train to Henley Beach, which, for whatever reason, he did not board. [citation needed], After discovering that Robin Thomson had died in 2009, Abbott contacted Rachel, the daughter of Roma Egan and Robin Thomson, who had been adopted and grew up in New Zealand. A photograph of the scrap of paper was released to the press.[36]. He said it had been thrown into the back of his car around the time of the incident. Following a public appeal by police, the book from which the page had been torn was located. Early 1947: Harkness moves to a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, and changes her surname to Thomson, the name of her future husband. Is climate change killing Australian wine? Derek Abbott, from the University of Adelaide, said that. ), Carl 'Charles' Webb's prisoner-of-war brother bears resemblance to Somerton Man https://t.co/c7KcGhtiuI. So possibly, he had come to track her down," he told the ABC. The spleen was strikingly large about 3 times normal size there was destruction of the centre of the liver lobules revealed under the microscope. In reply, Boxall says "no", and when asked if Harkness could have known, Boxall replies: "Not unless somebody else told her." Researchers now say the man is Carl Charles Webb, an electrical engineer from Melbourne. The man's death also coincided with a reorganisation of Australian security agencies, which would culminate the following year with the founding of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Reflecting on the identification, Carolyn Bilsborow, a filmmaker who directed a 2018 documentary about the Somerton Man, tells the Guardian: We had all these grandiose ideas about him being Russian, American and European. [18] The body was then embalmed on 10 December 1948 after the police were unable to get a positive identification. He had a sister who lived in Melbourne and was married to a man named Thomas Keanelikely the T. Keane whose name appears on the clothing in the Somerton Mans suitcase. We still dont know who he is, or what he was doing. [32], Cleland speculated that, as none of the witnesses could positively identify the man they saw the previous night as the same person discovered the next morning, there remained the possibility the man had died elsewhere and had been dumped. In July 1949, a local man came forward with a copy of The Rubiyt that hed found tossed into the back of his car around the time of the Somerton Mans death. [24] He immediately checked his suitcase at the station cloak room before leaving the station and catching a city bus to Glenelg. "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. "Somerton Man mystery 'solved': Professor identifies man found on beach in 1948" from news.com.au [84], In 2011, an Adelaide woman contacted biological anthropologist Maciej Henneberg about an identification card[85] of an H. C. Reynolds that she had found in her father's possessions. He was put to rest in an Adelaide cemetery under a headstone reading only "the unknown man". 7 p.m.8 p.m.: Various witness sightings. Police arrived on the scene the following morning after receiving reports of a dead body on Somerton Beach. Theres almost a sequel film here, [not] of who is Somerton man?, but now its the mysterious case of Charles Webb., Remains of mystery Somerton man exhumed 70 years after his death, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. When an employee looked inside the case he told Harvey he had found an object inside the case he described as looking like a "needle". Over the years many theories have swirled as to his identity, from Cold War spy to rejected lover. To narrow down the pool of potential candidates, Abbott and Fitzpatrick plugged the Somerton mans DNA into the genealogical research database GEDmatch. Its up to the cops to make the legal determination of who this guy was.. Other curious finds baffled authorities. In trying to solve the Somerton Man case, Abbott became part of it. [52] In an interview many years later, Paul Lawson, the technician who made the cast and was present when Thomson viewed it, noted that after looking at the bust she immediately looked away and would not look at it again. [44], In 2004, retired detective Gerry Feltus suggested in a Sunday Mail article that the final line "ITTMTSAMSTGAB" could stand for the initials of "It's Time To Move To South Australia Moseley Street" (Jessica Thomson lived in Moseley Street which is the main road through Glenelg). [11] In news media, books and other discussions of the case, Thomson was frequently referred to by various pseudonyms, including the nickname "Jestyn" and names such as "Teresa Johnson ne Powell". Abbott had attempted to contact the Thomson family, but upon finding both Jo Thomson and her son Robin Thomson dead, sought expert opinion which showed biological links between Robin and the Somerton man likely due to sharing the same rare dental and ear conditions, on top of the muscular calves which helped Thomson become a professional dancer. The chance that this was a coincidence has been estimated as between one in 10,000,000 and one in 20,000,000. Shed been adopted as a child and grew up in New Zealand, unaware of her potential links to the cold case. The heart was of normal size, and normal in every way small vessels not commonly observed in the brain were easily discernible with congestion. Is British seaman's identity card clue to solving 63-year-old beach body mystery? [116], Derek Abbott and Colleen Fitzpatrick believe that Carl had serious mental health issues and "spiralled down" after losing four close relatives in seven years. He had a clean-shaven face and appeared to be about 40 years old. "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. They may or may not have been cohabiting. 1 December 2 a.m.: Estimated time of death. On the inside back cover, detectives read through indentations left from previous handwriting: a local telephone number, another unidentified number, and text that resembled a coded message. [38] Former South Australian Police detective Gerry Feltus (who dealt with the matter as a cold case) reports that the book was found "just after that man was found on the beach at Somerton". Video, 00:02:36Who killed 'Little Red Riding Hood'? Derek Abbott was able to analyse the Somerton Man's DNA using hairs preserved when authorities made a plaster model of his face. DNA Researchers Name the Somerton Man, Australia's 73-Year-Old Cold Case. The man was well-dressed and had no obvious injuries, but an autopsy . [14], According to the pathologist, John Burton Cleland, the man was of "Britisher" appearance and thought to be aged about 4045; he was in "top physical condition". Now, Australian police say advances in DNA technology make exhumation worthwhile. Most accounts state that the book was found in an unlocked car parked in Jetty Road, Glenelg either in the rear floor well, or on the back seat. [32] Mangnoson stated that "the car stopped and a man with a khaki handkerchief over his face told her to 'keep away from the police or else'". We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. He said after using hairs from a plaster bust of the man to gather DNA evidence, researchers in Australia and America had further narrowed the search "to build out a family tree containing over 4,000 people". [9][30] There is no record of the station's bathroom facilities being unavailable on the day he arrived. [76] The Mangnosons had been missing for four days. Were just saying this is what the DNA tells us, says Abbott to the New York Times Alan Yuhas. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? Accessing the man's remains may be a first step in a process to build a DNA profile and uncover answers in one of the country's most famous cold cases. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? "We can't say for sure, but we can speculate," he said. She said although it looked as if there was nobody alive now that would remember him, she hoped to turn to the archives to answer new questions the findings opened up. The Tamm Shud case, also known as the Mystery of the Somerton Man, is an unsolved case of an unidentified man found dead at 6:30 am, December 1st of 1948, on the Somerton Park beach, just south of Adelaide, South Australia. University of Adelaide researcher Derek Abbott believes the unknown man found slumped and lifeless at Adelaide's Somerton Beach on December 1, 1948, was Carl "Charles" Webb, a 43-year-old engineer and instrument maker. The police said this was the first time they knew that such action was needed. A researcher in the case of the Somerton Man says he has solved the decades-old mystery, identifying the figure as a Melbourne-born electrical engineer.