His history and the autopsy findings suggest he committed suicide by poisoning himself.[113]. 2023 BBC. Somerton man mystery 'solved' as DNA points to man's identity The case is part of Operation Persevere, which seeks to put a name to all unidentified remains in South Australia. [83], The South Australian Police Historical Society holds the plaster bust, which contains strands of the man's hair. [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. "I would like to see the toxicology done. [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 secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. Somerton Man - Wikipedia He also held a torn scrap of paper with the Farsi words Tamam Shud - meaning "it's finished" - printed on it. 5 Unsolved, Weird Disappearances of People: What Happened? Detective H. Strangway and Constable J. Moss are enquiring. There is also an "X" above the last "O" in the code, and it is not known if this is significant to the code or not. Contrary to Abbotts initial suspicions, the new DNA survey showed no genetic ties between Egan and Webb, definitively proving that Robin was not Webbs son. 58. [49][89], In October 2011, as interest in the case resurfaced, Attorney-General John Rau refused to exhume the body, stating: "There needs to be public interest reasons that go well beyond public curiosity or broad scientific interest." In October 1951, three years after the Somerton Mans death, Dorothy placed a notice in the Age newspaper stating that she had begun divorce proceedings against Webb on the grounds of desertion. The ear shapes shared by both men were a "very good" match, although Henneberg also found what he called a "unique identifier"; a mole on the cheek that was the same shape and in the same position in both photographs. 14 March 1958: The coroner's inquest is continued. 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. The second line has been struck out a fact considered significant due to its similarities to the fourth line and the possibility that it represents an error in encryption. Speaking with ABCs Ben Cheshire and Susan Chenery in 2019, Abbott speculated that Robin was the Somerton Mans son; Thomson, he proposed, had failed to identify him because she was in a relationship with another man who would go on to be her husband, and she just didn't want this ghost from the past coming back to mess up her current existence.. [63], In early January 1949, two people identified the body as that of 63-year-old former wood cutter Robert Walsh. [49] Feltus also stated that her family did not know of her connection with the case, and he agreed not to disclose her identity or anything that might reveal it. Working in conjunction with US investigator Colleen Fitzpatrick, Professor Abbott said that, in March this year, suspicions fell on Webb, who was born in 1905 but later identified "as a person with no death record". [81], Years after the burial, flowers began appearing on the grave. 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], On 6 June 1949, the body of two-year-old Clive Mangnoson was found in a sack in the Largs Bay sand hills, about 20 kilometres (12mi) up the coast from Somerton Park. On 3 December 1948, a day after The Advertiser named him as the likely victim, E.C. [5], On 1 December 1948 at 6:30am, the police were contacted after the body of a man was discovered on Somerton Park beach near Glenelg, about 11km (7mi) southwest of Adelaide, South Australia. Bilsborow says the theory that Somerton man was a Russian spy emerged in the 1970s at the time of the cold war, particularly fuelled by the writing in the copy of the Rubiyt they interpreted as code. "[44] Boxall's army service record suggests that he served initially in the 4th Water Transport Company, before being seconded to the North Australia Observer Unit (NAOU) a special operations unit and that during his time with NAOU, Boxall rose rapidly in rank, being promoted from lance corporal to lieutenant within three months. Mystery of Somerton Man solved after 73 years as DNA finally identifies 'Somerton man' mystery is 'SOLVED': Extraordinary twist in Australia's most baffling death 70 years after he was found dead on a beach with a coded note in his pocket. Somerton man mystery 'solved' as DNA points to man's identity The actual reveal is quite impressive; it is very clear coding. [76] The Mangnosons had been missing for four days. Freda Grace and Carl lived a 20-minute drive away from each other. [36] The paper's verso side was blank. Still no picture to compare my reconstruction too though.Brilliant work by @derek_abbott60 and @Identifinders https://t.co/KrCkrZdYPg pic.twitter.com/vOllqL73g1. "So, it's a triangulation from two different, totally distant parts of the tree, so that's very convincing.". [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. 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. Some observers cited the code found on his copy of The Rubiyt, as well as the apparent attempts to mask his identity, as evidence that he was a Russian spy. He teamed up with renowned US forensic expert Colleen Fitzpatrick - who specialises in cold cases - to build an extended family tree using the DNA. He said their investigations had also found a link to the name "TKeane" which was printed on the Somerton Man's tie. That's most likely what brought him to Adelaide, the professor said. In 1948, the body of a well-dressed man was found slumped on an Australian beach. While Henneberg found anatomical similarities in features such as the nose, lips and eyes, he believed they were not as reliable as the close similarity of the ear. You may want to read Twitters cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. Another couple who saw him from 7:30pm to 8pm, during which time the street lights had come on, recounted that they did not see him move during the half an hour in which he was in view, although they did have the impression that his position had changed. April 1947: Charles Webb leaves his wife Dorothy, whereupon she files for divorce. [11] Other than that, the coroner was unable to reach a conclusion as to the man's identity, cause of death, or whether the man seen alive at Somerton Beach on the evening of 30 November was the same man, as nobody had seen his face at that time. What was his cause of death? [22], On 14 January 1949, staff at the Adelaide railway station discovered a brown suitcase with its label removed, which had been checked into the station cloakroom after 11:00am on 30 November 1948. Its possible that [Webb] came to this state to try and find her, Abbott tells CNN. Per a 1949 inquest report, a doctor who examined the Somerton Mans remains placed his time of death around 2 a.m. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. We can't say for certain say that this is the reason he came, but it seems logical., Records showed that Webb enjoyed reading and writing poetry, as well as betting on horse races. Shed been adopted as a child and grew up in New Zealand, unaware of her potential links to the cold case. 3. Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history. [86][needs update] Some independent researchers believe the ID card belonged to Horace Charles Reynolds, a Tasmanian man who died in 1953 and therefore could not have been the Somerton man. The Somerton man died alone on a beach in 1948. Now Australian - CNN [113][116], Dorothy recalled one instance in March 1946 in which her husband apparently attempted suicide with an overdose of ether. [83] Other key evidence no longer exists, such as the brown suitcase, which was destroyed in 1986. Mangnoson was born in Adelaide on 4 May 1914 and served as a Private in the Australian Army from 11 June 1941 until his discharge on 7 February 1945. [80] International circulation of a photograph of the man and details of his fingerprints yielded no positive identification. 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.". [110], Abbott's research indicates Webb enjoyed betting on horses, thus the coded messages could be horse names. [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. [27] A nationwide circulation of the dry-cleaning marks also proved fruitless. This would be consistent with the copy of the Rubaiyat, which also focuses on the subject of death. The couple moved into a flat in Bromby Street, South Yarra. [8][83] Any further attempts to identify the body have been hampered by the embalming formaldehyde having destroyed much of the man's DNA. By then, Dorothy had moved from Melbourne to Bute, a town 89 miles northeast of Adelaide. In June 2010, Abbott obtained a photograph of Jessica Thomson's eldest son Robin, which clearly showed that he like the unknown man had not only a larger cymba than cavum but also hypodontia. In a later interview Lawson describes her behaviour as being very odd that day. At 6:30 am on December 1, 1948, police were called to Somerton Park beach south of Adelaide, South Australia after the body of a man was found. The heart was of normal size, and normal in every way small vessels not commonly observed in the brain were easily discernible with congestion. Last month Ms Chapman said the decision to exhume the body followed "intense public interest" in the case. Early 1950: Prosper Thomson's divorce is finalised. August 1945: Jessica Harkness gives Alf Boxall an inscribed copy of. That's fingerprints for you. July 1948: "Prosper McTaggart Thomson, hire car proprietor, of Moseley Street, Glenelg" appears in Adelaide Local Court as defendant in a car sale dispute, dating from November 1947, establishing Prosper Thomson as active in Adelaide from 1947. Webb, who was born in the Australian state of Victoria in 1905, fit the bill. How muscly calves and a little girl who loved ballet could solve the Mystery of Somerton man's identity solved after 73 years, researchers in Australia say This week Prof Derek Abbott of the University of Adelaide claimed to have identified Somerton man as. The man's body was found propped up against the seawall at Somerton Beach in Adelaide on December 1, 1948. The phrase was identified as coming from the classic book of Persian poetry Rubiyt of Omar Khayym. Was it suicide? [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. [7], As one journalist wrote in June 1949, alluding to the line in Rubaiyat, "the Somerton Man seems to have made certain that the glass would be empty, save for speculation". Plenty of questions surrounding the case remain: Why did Webb come to Somerton Beach? [31] The lack of success in determining the identity and cause of death of the man had led authorities to call it an "unparalleled mystery" and believe that the cause of death might never be known. [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. All that could be garnered from the suitcase was that the front gusset and featherstitching on a coat found in the case indicated it had been manufactured in the United States. On December 1, 1948, an unknown man was found lying dead on the sand on Somerton Beach next to the neighborhood of Glenelg, about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Adelaide, South Australia. [38] The book was missing the words "Tamm Shud" on the last page, which had a blank reverse, and microscopic tests indicated that the piece of paper was from the page torn from the book. The autopsy also showed that the man's last meal was a pasty eaten about three to four hours before death,[8] but tests failed to reveal any foreign substance in the body. [53], Thomson also said that while she was working at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney during World War II,[42] she had owned a copy of Rubaiyat. [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. There is no evidence that police knew in 1949 that she was not married. "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. This ticket is the first sold of only three issued between 6:15a.m. and 2 p.m. by the particular ticket clerk for the Henley Beach train. Johnson, about 45, of Arthur St, Payneham, was found on Somerton Beach, opposite the Crippled Children's Home yesterday morning. 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. Fitzpatrick said the DNA evidence disproves any genetic relationship with Robin Thomson, and therefore Abbotts own wife Robin Thomsons daughter, Rachel Egan whom Abbott met during investigations. He was a Russian spy. "Somerton Beach Mystery Man", Transcript, Broadcast 15 May 2009. The last mention of Webb in the historical record dates to April 1947, when he left his wife. Both kidneys were congested, and the liver contained a great excess of blood in its vessels. They may or may not have been cohabiting. 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. Whether there was some social connection to Robins mother is still on the table for investigation, Abbott tells ABC, but may be one of those things well never know now.. The Somerton Man has been exhumed what happens now? Tucked inside the watch pocket in his pants was a slip of paper with Persian words printed on it which meant "finished.". Initial investigations and a coronial inquest left the case unsolved. 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. The identity and cause of death. One of the witnesses told the police she observed a man looking down at the sleeping man from the top of the steps that led to the beach. The only problem is that the body is six feet under and seven decades old. Early 1947: Harkness moves to a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, and changes her surname to Thomson, the name of her future husband. The police said this was the first time they knew that such action was needed. [44], In 1994, John Harber Phillips, Chief Justice of Victoria and Chairman of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, reviewed the case to determine the cause of death and concluded that, "There seems little doubt it was digitalis. Just trying to put together a paper trail of who he was, or might have been. In trying to solve the Somerton Man case, Abbott became part of it. WTBIMPANETP In July 1947, Jessica "Jestyn" Harkness gave birth to her son Robin in Melbourne, at which point she was not married. "For more than 70 years, people have speculated who this man was and how he died," South Australia Attorney General Vickie Chapman said. The pair analysed DNA evidence from hairs caught in a plaster cast made of the mans face more than half a century ago by investigators. In addition, witness statements have disappeared from the police file over the years.[8]. Other curious finds baffled authorities. [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'". "Together with the similarity of the ear characteristics, this mole, in a forensic case, would allow me to make a rare statement positively identifying the Somerton man. Australia Exhumes the Somerton Man, and His 70-Year Mystery This week the police disinterred a body, found on a beach in 1948, that has puzzled investigators for decades. I was convinced that he was from Europemaybe a displaced person after the Second World War [who] was here alone. [75] Lying next to him was his unconscious father, Keith Waldemar Mangnoson. 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". Astonishing Legends. South Australia Police have not confirmed the discovery but say they will comment soon. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Here's what they think of a Voice to Parliament, Prime minister says urgent care clinics will start relieving pressure on NT's busy emergency wards in coming months, Trump requests mistrial in rape civil case, NRL concedes error on crucial golden point call. 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. ), Carl 'Charles' Webb's prisoner-of-war brother bears resemblance to Somerton Man https://t.co/c7KcGhtiuI. In the book, it is unclear whether the first line begins with an "M" or "W", but it is widely believed to be the letter W, owing to the distinctive difference when compared to the stricken letter M. There appears to be a deleted or underlined line of text that reads "MLIAOI". So possibly, he had come to track her down," he told the ABC. Bilsborow said: Now that weve got his name, theres still so many questions. [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. Victoria detectives disproved all the claims and said that "other investigations" indicated it was unlikely that he was from Victoria. The poem's subject led police to theorise that the man had committed suicide by poison, although no other evidence corroborated the theory. There has been persistent speculation that the dead man was a spy, due to the circumstances and historical context of his death. Late 1946: Harkness moves to Mentone to temporarily live with her parents. Adelaide's 73-Year-Old MysteryThe Somerton Man | Unsettling & Unsolved 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. In reply, Boxall says "no", and when asked if Harkness could have known, Boxall replies: "Not unless somebody else told her." (As for the American origins of the attire, Abbott speculates that Keane bought the clothing second-hand from a G.I. Australia's "Somerton Man" Mystery Solved After 7 Decades, Says - NDTV Somerton Man: Professor claims he has solved the identity of man found It was noted that the movement seen by witnesses at 7 p.m. could have been the last convulsion preceding death. Abbott, who has researched the Somerton Man for more than two decades, met his current wife, Rachel Egan, through the case. And. When police arrived, they found the man lying in the sand with his head resting on the sea wall, with his legs out in front of him, and his ankles crossed. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, The mystery death haunting Norway for 46 years, MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies, NFL player's daughter, aged two, drowns in pool, Banana artwork in Seoul museum eaten by visitor, Donald Trump arrives in Scotland on golf visit, Indian 'killer' elephant relocated to tiger reserve, Ding becomes China's first male world chess champion. Initially, the letters were thought to be words in a foreign language[38] before it was realised it was a code. On the night of November 30, 1948, two separate couples noticed a smartly dressed man lying on the sand, his head propped against a sea wall, according to Smithsonian magazines Mike Dash.