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Thread: The Tamam (Taman) Shud Somerton Man Unsolved Mystery - Adelaide, Australia, 1948

  1. #26
    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    continued ...

    Why has the case never been solved?

    Despite a few new pieces of information emerging over the years, the case is still a mystery.

    Most of the key witnesses are now dead.

    SA Police told the ABC it was an ?open inquiry? that remained with the Major Crime Investigation Branch.

    Genetic testing on the Somerton Man?s hair, embedded in the plaster cast, revealed the man?s mother had European ancestry, but offered no further clues.

    Jessie Thomson died in 2007, six years before her link to the investigation was made public.

    Rumours swirled that her son Robin was the biological son of the unidentified man.

    In 2013, her daughter Kate Thomson said her mother knew the identity of the man on the beach.

    ?She said to me she knew who he was, but she wasn?t going to let that out of the bag,? she told current affairs show 60 Minutes.

    Romance blossomed during investigations

    While sleuths around the world have conducted their own investigations over the years, Adelaide University professor Derek Abbott has dedicated more than 20 years to solving the case.

    He found himself more deeply involved in the story while researching the connection between Robin Thomson and the Somerton Man.

    While Robin Thomson had died by the time Professor Abbott made the connection, his daughter Rachel Egan was alive and living in Queensland.

    Professor Abbott contacted her, and before long, the two developed a relationship. They married.

    Professor Abbott said comparing the DNA of his wife and the Somerton Man ? her possible grandfather ? could prove whether or not Robin was the Somerton Man?s son and whether Mrs Thomson had been in a relationship with the mystery man.

    The only problem?

    No state government has agreed to the exhumation. Until now.

    Attorney-General Vickie Chapman told the ABC the State Government had offered its conditional support for an exhumation.

    But there?s a catch.

    ?If somebody can come up with the funds to support that, and there is sufficient supervision of this process, then I will consent to it,? she said.


    Ms Chapman has had informal talks with police about an exhumation but said they had not indicated it was a priority.

    ?We would need to have a clear plan as to what the exhumation arrangements would be, what particles of fibre or tissue might be required for forensic assessment, who would undertake that, the security of that, the reinterment,? she said.

    ?At this stage, I haven?t had any plan presented or indication that there?s finance available, but I would of course act as expeditiously as possible, if those things were in place and approved.?

    Could it be funded?

    Professor Abbott estimated the cost of an exhumation from the Somerton Man?s grave at West Terrace Cemetery would be $20,000.

    It doesn?t sound like much, especially given the level of interest in the case, but a previous crowdfunding effort came to nothing.

    ?We?ve got the mother?s side, we need the father?s side which is the Y-DNA and we also need the autosomes, which is part of the DNA,? he said.

    ?That?s what we really want because it?s from [those] that you can use that data to go on genealogical websites and find close cousins.?

    Professor Abbott told the ABC he was considering starting a new crowdfunding effort, to help find the answers to the questions he had been asking for more than two decades.

    Ms Egan, who said she was only too happy to take part in genetic testing, said she felt a little like Alice in Wonderland ? on the verge of an abyss, not knowing how deep it went.

    ?There will still be many questions that remain unanswered but hopefully it will give us far more information about who he was,? she said.

    ?In one sense it?s irrelevant if he?s genetically related or not because obviously he has a connection to my family.

    ?If we?re not his family, there?s another family out there who deserve to know what?s happened to him.?

    While the world watches to see if this mystery will ever come to a conclusion, for Ms Egan it?s personal.

    ?Is the unknown man my grandfather, or not??

    Credits
    Reporting and research: Daniel Keane
    Photography: Tony Hill, Greg Ashman, Chris Lockyer, Carl Saville
    Artwork: Ruth Stentiford
    Editor: Jessica Haynes
    Thanks to: Tim Leslie, Professor Derek Abbott, Gerry Feltus, Wayne Groom, Dr Carolyn Bilsborow, the SA Police Historical Society and the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority

  2. #27
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    I was JUST about to update this one.

    RBW, the title should include "The Somerton Man to make it more searchable here. This case has always haunted me.
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  3. #28
    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    Ever since they started getting serious about exhuming him & testing his DNA, I've kinda wondered how the Somerton Man-obsessed Professor will react in the long-term if his wife isn't actually a descendent



    https://www.news.com.au/national/cri...36f3e612622d55

    Fresh hope in Somerton Man mystery as forensic researchers examine DNA


    Those closest to the Somerton Man case are hoping DNA testing of his remains will unravel the mystery of who he was.

    Catie McLeod
    2 min read
    September 7, 2021 - 12:07AM



    Bones of Somerton man found to be in good condition
    Investigators believe there is fresh hope?

    The woman who could be the Somerton Man?s granddaughter hopes DNA testing of his remains will reveal the answers to one of Australia?s most enduring mysteries.

    The body was exhumed in May to undergo forensic testing, more than 70 years after he was found slumped against a sea wall at Somerton Beach, south of Adelaide.

    When passersby stumbled upon his body in 1948, the mystery man had an unsmoked cigarette resting on his chest and a scrap of paper in his pocket.


    His hair was perfectly in place and his double-breasted jacket was pressed and in perfect condition, though all the clothing labels had been removed.

    He has never been identified, with the unsolved case capturing the imaginations of generations of Australians and others around the world.

    It?s possible he would unknowingly become the grandfather of Rachel Egan, who is among those hoping to discover the truth.

    Ms Egan appeared on the ABC?s Australian Story on Monday night in an episode about the unsolved case, as forensic researchers examine his remains.

    ?Whether or not I?m genetically connected to Mr Somerton we need to find out the truth, whatever the truth may be,? she told the program.

    ?By exhuming the body and giving Mr Somerton an identity, it will finally bring closure to this case and to the lives of a lot of people. There?s a family out there somewhere who have lost somebody.


    ?Somebody needs to own him.?


    Forensic researchers will examine the Somerton Man?s DNA and see whether any of it can be linked to Ms Egan?s.

    Her husband, Adelaide University Professor Derek Abbott, has become an expert on the case since he began investigating it in 2009.

    The couple met and fell in love that year after Professor Abbot contacted Ms Egan believing her father could have been the Somerton Man?s son.

    Professor Abbott told the ABC one of his theories about the mystery is linked to the woman who could be Ms Egan?s grandmother, Jo Thompson.

    ?One theory that was forming in my mind is that perhaps he did come to see Jo Thompson and his son and died for whatever reason there out on the beach, and perhaps it was in her interest to de-identify him,? he said.

    South Australia Attorney-General
    But others think differently.

    Dr Carolyn Bilsborow, who directed the documentary Missing Pieces about the case, told the ABC she believed the Somerton Man took his own life.

    ?I think Somerton Man did know Jo Thomson, but when he came back to visit her, she rejected him. The only way to really find out now is through DNA,? she said.

    A variety of forensic tests will be carried out on the Somerton Man?s remains over the coming months in an attempt to work out his identity.




  4. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by blighted star View Post
    Ever since they started getting serious about exhuming him & testing his DNA, I've kinda wondered how the Somerton Man-obsessed Professor will react in the long-term if his wife isn't actually a descendent



    https://www.news.com.au/national/cri...36f3e612622d55
    Didn't he supposedly marry her just because of that?

    I can't wait for an answer on the DNA!

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    Senior Member blighted star's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by raisedbywolves View Post
    Didn't he supposedly marry her just because of that?

    I can't wait for an answer on the DNA!
    They absolutely met through his research & theories, so yeah, can't help but wonder how he'll feel about it. & yes, me too, it'll be so weird to have answers to this because it's been a mystery my entire life. I was reading stuff on this when I was in 4th grade

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    Senior Member KimTisha's Avatar
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    I have been absolutely fascinated with this case for decades. "Somerton Man" is every bit as intriguing as "Mostly Harmless," imho.

    I collect rare books and have several Rubaiyats (but not the one they're looking for), so I find that connection very interesting. Why the Rubaiyat???

    There is no doubt in my mind this is related to the spy world in some way based on the obvious indications of tradecraft that would not have been widely known in pre-internet 1948.

    I just realized you're all gonna think they have identified the DNA because I bumped this. Sorry, but not really. I'm super excited they have exhumed his body and tested his DNA. His was actually the first case I thought of when they identified the Golden State Killer this way, hoping it could work for Somerton Man. Looks like that's going to happen.
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    Apologies for the bump, we don't have the results from the DNA analysis yet (as far as I'm aware). There is no doubt in my mind, Jessica "Jo" Thomson was involved with this man, and I believe Robin was their son. The fact that the Somerton Man and Robin both had hypodontia, a genetic condition that affects only 2% of the population, is very telling.

    I know the DNA work could take years, but I'm low-key hoping the delay means they're making a documentary...

  8. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by tango View Post
    Apologies for the bump, we don't have the results from the DNA analysis yet (as far as I'm aware). There is no doubt in my mind, Jessica "Jo" Thomson was involved with this man, and I believe Robin was their son. The fact that the Somerton Man and Robin both had hypodontia, a genetic condition that affects only 2% of the population, is very telling.

    I know the DNA work could take years, but I'm low-key hoping the delay means they're making a documentary...
    Bump away! This is a case that has always fascinated me. I agree on all of your points. I don't understand though why the DNA has to take so long. They could push it through faster if they wanted to.

  9. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by tango View Post
    Apologies for the bump, we don't have the results from the DNA analysis yet (as far as I'm aware). There is no doubt in my mind, Jessica "Jo" Thomson was involved with this man, and I believe Robin was their son. The fact that the Somerton Man and Robin both had hypodontia, a genetic condition that affects only 2% of the population, is very telling.

    I know the DNA work could take years, but I'm low-key hoping the delay means they're making a documentary...
    This was also my thought. The coincidence is too much that they aren't related. The ear thing always caught me.
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    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-...says/101272182

    Somerton Man identified as Melbourne electrical engineer, researcher says
    Last edited by raisedbywolves; 11-13-2022 at 07:26 AM.

  11. #36
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    Wow.

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    Insane. Sounds like they have it though.
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  13. #38
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    It's never as exciting as our imagination. I'm glad that this is solved.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Queenatoo View Post
    It's never as exciting as our imagination. I'm glad that this is solved.
    Yeah, if anything I'm glad that he has his name back. Who knows? He could still have an exciting story behind him.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    That is too pretty to be shoved up an ass.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    You can take those Fleets and shove them up your ass



  15. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Boston Babe 73 View Post
    Yeah, if anything I'm glad that he has his name back. Who knows? He could still have an exciting story behind him.
    We can certainly make up one. My made up theory is the bother in law did it. It's because he stole his tie. I know that you may think that it was petty, but that tie has brought the brother in law luck at the euchre table. BIL was on his way to creating generational wealth, until this dude stole his lucky tie! He used pure telepathy to cause this man's death. The only mistake was not keeping up with his activity, and losing track of him. Because of that, he never got his tie back.

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    This is a really great documentary on how they finally identified him:

    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    That is too pretty to be shoved up an ass.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    You can take those Fleets and shove them up your ass



  17. #42
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    I still think he was a spy. Julius Rosenberg was an electrical engineer and we all know what happened there...
    You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
    ...Collector of Chairs. Reader of Books. Hater of Nutmeg...

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