Somerton Man s remains exhumed in a bid to solve enduring mystery
There is hope that one of South Australia s most enduring mysteries could be solved with the unearthing of the so-called Somerton Man.
His remains are now in the hands of forensic detectives, who will use cutting-edge techniques to try to finally determine who he was and potentially end decades of public intrigue.
Detectives started digging this morning after getting permission from South Australia s Attorney-General Vickie Chapman to extract DNA as part of their investigation.
There is hope that one of South Australia s most enduring mysteries could be solved with the unearthing of the so-called Somerton Man.(9News)
The remains of the so-called Somerton man are being exhumed at an Adelaide cemetery in a bid to solve the more than 70-year mystery over his death and his identity.
On December 1, 1948, the man s body was found on Somerton Beach with the circumstances of his death remaining an open police investigation.
The case is in the hands of the Major Crime Investigation Branch, with detectives to be on hand as his body was exhumed at the West Terrace Cemetery on Wednesday morning.
The Somerton man s body was first found by passers-by who noticed him slumped against a seawall.
The remains of the so-called Somerton man are being exhumed at an Adelaide cemetery in a bid to solve the more than 70-year mystery over his death and his identity
The Tamam Shud Enigma
Investigators were perplexed when they found what appeared to be a secret message stuffed in his trouser pocket. The words
Tamam Shud were printed on a rolled-up scrap of paper, found deep in the unidentified man s pocket. Consulting library experts, police found that the mysterious scrap had been torn from the last page of a rare copy of
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Eerily,
Tamam Shud is a phrase meaning the end or finished , and is found at the end of
The Rubaiyat.
Was this cryptic note a final message of doom for the unknown man?
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Sputnik International
Manâs remains to be exhumed - 73 years after his death Itâs a mystery that has led to extraordinary theories of Cold War spies, love affairs and murder. Now police will exhume the Somerton Man.
Crime by Nigel Hunt
Premium Content
Subscriber only The remains of the Somerton Man, whose death almost 73 years ago is still one of South Australia s most baffling mysteries, are to be exhumed by police. Major Crime detectives are hoping advances in forensic technology may enable a DNA profile to be extracted from his remains to identify him and possibly shed light on how he died.