At 6:30 am on the 1st of December 1948 a man was found dead on Somerton beach near Adelaide, Australia.
He had no identification and a public appeal brought no information on the man at all. To this day no one knows who he was or why he was dead on the beach. When an autopsy was performed no cause of death could be found.
A re-enactment of how and where the man was found.
His pockets contained a used bus ticket from the city, an unused second-class rail ticket from the city to nearby Henley Beach, a narrow aluminium American comb, a half-empty packet of Juicy Fruit chewing gum, an Army Club cigarette packet containing (the different brand of) Kensitas cigarettes, and a quarter-full box of Bryant & May matches.
One month later a suitcase was also found at the train station and is believed to have belonged to him. This still didn't give any clue as to who he was. The case contained:
■ Red checked dressing gown
■ Red felt slippers, size 7
■ Undergarments - four pairs
■ Pyjamas
■ Four pairs of socks
■ Shaving kit containing razor and strop, shaving brush
■ Light brown trousers with sand in cuffs
■ A screwdriver
■ A cut-down table knife
■ A stencilling brush
■ A pair of scissors
■ A sewing kit containing orange Barbour's brand waxed thread
■ Two ties
■ Three pencils
■ Six handkerchiefs
■ Sixpence in coins
■ A button
■ A tin of brown shoe polish, Kiwi brand
■ One scarf
■ One cigarette lighter
■ Eight large envelopes and one small envelope
■ One piece of light cord
■ One shirt without a name tag
■ One yellow coat shirt (a shirt with an attached collar)
■ Two airmail stickers
■ One eraser
■ One front and one back collar stud
■ Toothbrush and toothpaste
Months after he was found, someone going back over the case found a small scrap of paper in the fob pocket of his trousers. It said Tamam Shud in print, which is Persian for either ended or finished and it was identified to be ripped from a book. It was worked out that the book was Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a book of 12th century poetry.
A man heard of this case and the book. He came forward with a copy of the book that he had found tossed in to the back of his car the night before the man was found. The back page was missing where this phrase would have been printed. On the inside of the books back cover they found indentations from hand writing which showed a code that has never been deciphered.
WTBIMPANETP
MLIABOAIAQC
ITTMTSAMSTGAB
There have been many people working on this case and it has spanned out all over the world. There are many theories and some possible ideas on who he might have been but there is nothing solid anywhere. This is still now considered a great mystery and we will probably never know who he was, why he was there or what it all means.
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