A Mysterious Discovery on Somerton Beach
In December 1948, an unidentified man’s body was found on Somerton Beach near Adelaide, South Australia. The case quickly gained notoriety due to the lack of identification, the absence of an apparent cause of death, and a series of perplexing clues, making it one of Australia’s most famous unsolved mysteries.
The doctor who carried out the autopsy believed the man had died from heart failure due to poisoning, and the coroner didn’t rule out murder, there was no indication of violence. No common poison was detected.
“The Somerton Man case remains an enduring puzzle in the annals of Australian crime history,” said forensic historian Dr. Elizabeth Harding.
A Man Without an Identity
The deceased carried no identification, and the tags on his clothes were removed. Despite widespread media attention and public appeals, no one came forward to identify the man. Facial reconstructions and descriptions were distributed widely, but his identity remained elusive.
“Despite the considerable media coverage and police efforts, the man seemed to belong to no one, known to none,” observed journalist Peter Grayson.
The Tamám Shud Clue along with other clues
Further adding to the mystery was a scrap of paper found in a concealed pocket of the man’s pants, with the printed words “Tamám Shud” – Persian for “it’s over” or “it’s finished.” This clue led investigators to a hidden compartment in a car near the beach, containing a peculiar book: “The Rubaiyat” by Omar Khayyam. The book from which the page had been torn was located. On the back of the book’s cover, detectives read through indentations left from previous handwriting, a local phone number, an unidentified number, and a text that resembled a coded message. That text hasn’t been deciphered or interpreted to this day.
About the local phone number though, it was found that it belonged to a young nurse identified as Jo Thomson who lived 5 minutes away from where the body was found. When Thomson was asked by the authorities to identify the death mask of the Somerton Man, she denied her knowledge of who that person could be. Even though the taxidermist present, Paul Lawson, told ABC’s Australian story that he thought she knew the man and was keeping a secret.
“The connection between the paper, the book, and the man’s death remains one of the case’s most baffling elements,” noted cryptologist Alan Mercer.
In his possession there was a jacket and tie with their tag cut off, an unused train ticket and a used bus ticket, the cryptic scrap of paper, cigarettes, matches, a patch of juicy fruity gum and two hair combs.
A month after his death, the police found a suitcase believed to belong to him at the Adelaide Railway Station. A spool of thread in the suitcase matched the orange stitches used to repair the man’s clothing.
Also inside the suitcase was a shaving brush, shoe polish, a knife, scissors, a screwdriver and an assorted attire, some of which was labeled with variants of the name “T.Keane”.
Possible Espionage Connections & Other Theories
Given the onset of the Cold War, some theories proposed that the Somerton Man might have been involved in espionage. His lack of identification, the mysterious code, and the circumstances of his death fueled speculations about spy rings and covert operations.
“While there’s no conclusive evidence pointing to espionage, the theory adds another layer of intrigue to an already complex case,” said historian Dr. Fiona Gallagher.
The death occurred at a time of heightened international tensions following the beginning of the cold war; the secret code; the possible use of an undetectable poison; and the inability to solve the case all played a part in the espionage connections theory.
Another theory was posed that the Somerton Man was a former professional ballet dancer, pointing to the coroner’s comment that his calf muscles were high and well developed, such as found in women based on that suggestion it was concluded that he may have been in the habit of wearing high heeled and pointed shoes.
Modern Investigations and DNA
Efforts to resolve the mystery didn’t end in the 1940s. In recent years, there have been attempts to use modern forensic and DNA analysis techniques to identify the Somerton Man and determine his cause of death. Descendants of individuals suspected to be related to the Somerton Man have come forward, providing DNA samples for comparison.
“With advances in forensic science, there’s hope that one of Australia’s oldest mysteries might yet be solved,” remarked forensic scientist Dr. Neil Robertson.
And that’s exactly what happened in the 26th of July 2022, in the University of Adelaide where professor Derek Abbott along with genealogist Colleen M. Fitzpatrick, concluded that the man was Carl “Charles” Web, an electrical engineer and instrument maker born in 1905, that discovery was based on genetic genealogy from DNA of the man’s hair caught in the plaster cast made for his death mask. Non of the aforementioned has been confirmed or verified by the South Australia Police. Even though they have exhumed Web’s body for a re investigation.
They searched for a match in a DNA database (so called DNA-Cousin to Somerton man) they built out his family tree until they found someone who fit the description of who they were looking for.
The tree included about 4000 people when they started the search.
Charles Web the alleged Somerton man
There’s not much information about Web, he was an Australian from Victoria who enjoyed reading and writing poetry, as well as betting on horse races. He has a sister who lived in Melbourne and was married to a man named Thomas Keane – likely the T. Keane whose name appears on the clothing in the Somerton Man’s suitcase.
Web’s wife filed for divorce on the grounds of desertion. In the divorce papers, web’s wife described him as violent, threatening, and moody – a man with no friends of his own who was often in bed by 7pm.
In a statement his wife Dorothy said that he has written many poems, most of them on the subject of death, which claims to be his greatest desire. Here it’s important to mention that the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is described as poetry about death.
Charles Web was a person with no death record. Web died and nobody reported him missing.
An Unsolved Enigma
The Somerton Man case remains an active topic of research and speculation among amateur sleuths, historians, and the general public. Theories range from unrequited love to international espionage, but conclusive answers remain elusive.
“The Somerton Man’s identity and the circumstances of his death are questions that have haunted investigators for decades, making it a timeless enigma in the world of unsolved mysteries,” concluded detective Alice Brennan.
If the Somerton Man is indeed Charles Web then why was he never reported missing and why did no one investigate the nurse whose number was in the book where the cryptic message was torn? and why were the tags on the clothes torn? was it because they were labelled T. Keane?.