We had all these grandiose ideas about him being Russian, American and European. The divorce was granted in April 1952. Bilsborow said: Now that weve got his name, theres still so many questions. In 1948, the body of a well-dressed man was found slumped on an Australian beach. Phillips, J.H. ][88], Prosper Thomson died in 1995 and Jessica Thomson died in 2007. It was a concealed code and the cipher used was a Hill cipher. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? [32] Soon after being interviewed by police over her harassment, Mangnoson collapsed and required medical treatment. [110], Carl "Charles" Webb was born on 16 November 1905, in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne,[110] the youngest of six children of Richard and Eliza. There is no evidence that police knew in 1949 that she was not married. By 4 December, police had announced that the man's fingerprints were not on South Australian police records, forcing them to look further afield. [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. 14 March 1958: The coroner's inquest is continued. Australia's Greatest Mystery The Somerton Man An unknown dead body on an Adelaide Beach in post-war Australia In 1948 an unknown nameless man washed up on Somerton Park Beach in Adelaide,. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? 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. She nursed him back to health, only for him to scold her for it and become more violent. It was believed the man had died while sleeping. 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. 6:30am: Found dead by John Lyons and two men with a horse. There has been persistent speculation that the dead man was a spy, due to the circumstances and historical context of his death. The tree included about 4,000 people when that happened.. However, the code's short length meant the investigators would require the exact edition of the book used. 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. On 26 July 2022, Adelaide University professor Derek Abbott, in association with genealogist Colleen M. Fitzpatrick, claimed to have identified the man as Carl "Charles" Webb, an electrical engineer and instrument maker born in 1905, based on genetic genealogy from DNA of the man's hair. [110], Abbott claimed his DNA identification from strands of hair found in the plaster death mask made by South Australian Police in the late 1940s. [108][109], On 26 July 2022, Abbott announced that he and genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick had determined that the man was Carl "Charles" Webb, an electrical engineer and instrument maker born on 16 November 1905, in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne. He had no wallet, no cash, and no ID. Authorities said if sufficient DNA evidence can be obtained, they will attempt to identify the man and where he came from. Abbott, who has researched the Somerton Man for more than two decades, met his current wife, Rachel Egan, through the case. 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. And I think there is some truth to that., Authorities in Adelaide exhumed the Somerton Mans body last May and are currently conducting genetic testing on the remains. acute gastritis hemorrhage, extensive congestion of the liver and spleen, and the congestion to the brain. The heart was of normal size, and normal in every way small vessels not commonly observed in the brain were easily discernible with congestion. [24] All identification marks on the clothes had been removed but police found the name "T. Keane" on a tie, "Keane" on a laundry bag and "Kean" on a singlet, along with three dry-cleaning marks; 1171/7, 4393/7 and 3053/7. Solving Australia's coldest case", "Maternal inheritance of human mitochondrial DNA", "Ubiquitinated Sperm Mitochondria, Selective Proteolysis, and the Regulation of Mitochondrial Inheritance in Mammalian Embryos", "Somerton man mystery 'solved' as DNA points to man's identity, professor claims", "Somerton Man face search suggests correct Charles Webb is in Swinburne football photo", "Somerton Man Charles Webb's true identity revealed in family photographs and divorce papers", "Carl 'Charles' Webb's prisoner-of-war brother bears resemblance to Somerton Man", "Somerton Man mystery 'solved' as Adelaide uni researcher names body on beach", "Somerton Man cold case: SA Attorney-General Vickie Chapman grants conditional approval to exhume body", "Der Somerton Man: Eine dokumentarische Fiktion in drei Dimensionen,", Archival newspaper articles on the Taman Shud Case, Reddit AMA interview with Taman Shud researcher Derek Abbott, SA Police Historical Society Oct 2007 Newsletter on the case, SA Police Historical Society October 2010 article on Jimmy Durham who worked in the case, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Somerton_Man&oldid=1151307234, Undeciphered historical codes and ciphers, Articles containing Persian-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2016, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from December 2015, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Articles with self-published sources from November 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2022, Articles needing cleanup from December 2022, Articles with sections that need to be turned into prose from December 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. 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. [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. 14 October 2019: Attorney-General of South Australia grants conditional approval for The Somerton Man to be exhumed in order for a DNA sample to be obtained. 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. [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. Shed been adopted as a child and grew up in New Zealand, unaware of her potential links to the cold case. "Sorry, The Unknown Man is (very probably) not H.C. Reynolds", "New twist in Somerton Man mystery as fresh claims emerge", "An immaculate corpse, a secret code and Australia's strangest cold case", "Somerton Man to be exhumed by police in attempt to solve mystery", "Somerton Man exhumation to be carried out in hope of solving decades-long mystery", "Complete remains of Somerton Man in 'reasonable condition' after exhumation", "Somerton man: Body exhumed in bid to solve Australian mystery". The tags on his suit had been cut off, and forensic examiners suspected he had been poisoned. [7] He was clean-shaven[7] and carried no identification, which led police to believe he had committed suicide. Keane. A tailor brought in to assess the clothing concluded it was made in the United States, lending weight to the theory that the Somerton Man wasnt from the area. But a professor at the University of Adelaide was on his own mission to crack it. "Marriage and a mystery: Somerton Man's romantic twist", "The Somerton man died alone on a beach in 1948. Division, ", See, for example; Gumundsson, H.H. Freda Grace and Carl lived a 20-minute drive away from each other. Cookie Policy "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. A month after his death, police found a suitcase believed to belong to him at the Adelaide Railway Station. [45], An investigation had shown that the Somerton man's autopsy reports of 1948 and 1949 are now missing and the Barr Smith Library's collection of Cleland's notes do not contain anything on the case. [50], It was determined the letter frequency of the message in the back of the Rubaiyat was considerably different from letters written down randomly; the frequency was to be further tested to determine if the alcohol level of the writer could alter random distribution. [51] According to Leane, he described her reaction upon seeing the cast as "completely taken aback, to the point of giving the appearance that she was about to faint". [42] The police agreed a decision that hampered later investigations. 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. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. 27 July: Sydney detectives locate and interview Boxall. [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'". The body of a fully-clothed man was discovered by two trainee jockeys near the shore of the Somerton Park Beach, south of Adelaide, on December 1, 1948. Johns possessions included items which imply he resided in the US at some point, such as US coins and a map of Chicago. 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. [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. Between 8:30a.m. to 10:50am: There is no satisfactory explanation for what The Somerton Man does during these hours. On December 1, 1948, the body of a man was found on Somerton beach. Privacy Statement C.I.B. Prof Derek Abbott from the University of Adelaide said on Monday he believes the man found on 1 December 1948, was Carl Charles Webb, a 43-year-old electrical engineer from Melbourne. "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.". Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? The Advertiser first mentioned the case in a small article on page three of its morning edition of 2 December 1948. "So When That Angel of the Darker Drink", Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, "World War II Nominal Roll, "Boxall, Alfred", "List of facts on the Taman Shud Case that are often misreported", "Somerton Man identified as Melbourne electrical engineer, researcher says", "Seven-decade mystery of Somerton Man solved", "Professor's 15-year search for answers seeks to crack the secret code to the death of the 'Somerton man' found on an Adelaide beach", Unidentified Body Found at Somerton Beach, South Australia, on 1st December 1948, "Unsolved Death from 1948: The Somerton Man (The Taman Shud Case)", 'Unparalleled Mystery' Of Somerton Body Case, Curious aspects of unsolved beach mystery, Army Officer Sought to Help Solve Somerton Body Case, Unbreakable: Somerton Man's poetic mystery, "Computational linguistic analysis of the Tamam Shud Cipher", "No Sydney Clue to Dead Man Found at Somerton, S.A.", A Body, A Secret Pocket and a Mysterious Code, 30-Year-Old Death Riddle Probed In New Series, "Jessica Thomson's reaction to the dead man's bust", Somerton body said to be that of wood cutter, Somerton Body may be that of station hand. [32] The contents of the boy's stomach were sent to a government analyst for further examination. x [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". The man was well-built, about 40 to 50 years old, 5. [14][18] On 22 November 1959 it was reported that one E.B. 28 February 1918: H. C. Reynolds identity card issued. [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. Some answers may come soon, some may take years, and some may never be answered, Abbott tells ABC. [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. [83] Other key evidence no longer exists, such as the brown suitcase, which was destroyed in 1986. In 1945, at the Clifton Gardens Hotel in Sydney, she had given it to an Australian Army lieutenant named Alf Boxall, who was serving at the time in the Water Transport Section of the Royal Australian Engineers. [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". According to ABC News, a wooden spatula and a brush were used to carefully exhume the remains, which were then placed in a new coffin before being taken away to a forensic science centre. That's fingerprints for you. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. [49] She suggested that her mother and the Somerton man may both have been spies, noting that Jessica Thomson taught English to migrants, was interested in communism, and could speak Russian, although she would not disclose to Kate where she had learned it or why. Beyond the DNA results linking the Somerton Man to Webb, Abbott and Fitzpatrick found ample archival evidence supporting the identification. Theories abounded, including that the person - dubbed Somerton Man - was a spy. For 73 years, the identity of a well-dressed man found slumped by a sea wall of Somerton beach, south of Adelaide, in 1948 has been a mystery leaving room for theories featuring jilted lovers and cold war spies. Boxall was born in London on 16 April 1906, enlisted in the Australian Army on 12 January 1942 and was not discharged until 12 April 1948. Read about our approach to external linking. 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". [90], In October 2019, however, Attorney-General Vickie Chapman granted approval for his body to be exhumed to extract DNA for analysis. [50] The team concluded that it was most likely that each letter was the first letter of a word. There was congestion in the second half of the duodenum. Although they commented between themselves that it was odd that he was not reacting to the mosquitoes, they had thought it more likely that he was drunk or asleep, and thus did not investigate further. [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. stationed in Australia. (As for the American origins of the attire, Abbott speculates that Keane bought the clothing second-hand from a G.I. Police questioned a woman seen leaving the cemetery but she claimed she knew nothing of the man. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. 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. 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. (Carls brother Roy also died in a prisoner-of-war camp the same year.) "All this time we've been publishing the autopsy photo, and it's hard to tell what something looks like from that", Abbott said. While the mystery man's remains were exhumed last year by SA Police, Professor Abbott has in the meantime persisted with his own independent efforts to crack the case. [43], In 1978, following a request from ABC Television's journalist Stuart Littlemore, Department of Defence cryptographers analysed the handwritten text. A post-mortem ruled he had died from. Its much more than identifying the Somerton man as Carl Webb, its also solving the mystery of how and why he died that may take years.. [114], Forensic Science South Australia, who were still investigating, declined to comment on Abbott's findings. A half-smoked cigarette was resting on his collar, and there was a line from a Persian poem in his pocket - but investigators had no idea who he was. We knew this day was going to come at some point, she said. Police checked incoming train records and believed the man had arrived at the Adelaide railway station by overnight train from either Melbourne,[29] Sydney or Port Augusta. And from 4000 names, the pair narrowed it down to one - Carl Webb. " Several years ago, Ms. Egan had her DNA analyzed, and links were found to people in the United States (including relatives of Thomas Jefferson ). Also written on the back cover was the phone number of young nurse later identified by Abbott as Jo Thomson who lived a five minute walk away from where the man was found dead. As Hilary Whiteman reports for CNN, a new DNA analysis suggests the Somerton Man is Carl Charles Webb, an electrical engineer from Melbourne who vanished from the public record in April 1947. An Australian researcher claims to have solved a 73-year-old mystery by identifying a man found dead on a beach, CNN said in a report. Late 1946: Harkness moves to Mentone to temporarily live with her parents. It bore the phrase Tamm ShudPersian for its finished or its endedand was soon traced to The Rubiyt of Omar Khayym, a 12th-century book of Persian poetry popularized by an 1859 English translation. A jilted lover poisoned by his paramour. 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.
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