# The Somerton Man (Tamam Shud) > A man found dead on Somerton beach, Adelaide, on 1 December 1948 was unidentified for 73 years. In July 2022 Derek Abbott and Colleen Fitzpatrick named… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:48:20+00:00 --- **MYS** 0CVC1SMW1WNQ·Mystery · event # The Somerton Man (Tamam Shud) **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=somerton-man) The Somerton Man (Tamam Shud) ![Burial of the Somerton Man on 14 June 1949.](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/somerton-man-lead) Australian police · Public domain Found 6:30 am, 1 December 1948, Somerton Park beach, Adelaide⁠[[2]] Inquest June 1949; adjourned without finding identity or cause; resumed 1958 with no new finding⁠[[1]] Pathologist's view Death not natural; probably poison taken with suicidal intent (J. B. Cleland)⁠[[1]] Tamam Shud Scrap torn from the last page of a 1941 Whitcombe and Tombs Rubaiyat, found in a fob pocket in June 1949⁠[[2]] The code Five lines of capitals pencilled in the back of that book, the second struck out; 44 letters in the rest⁠[[2]] Exhumed 19 May 2021, West Terrace Cemetery⁠[[2]] Proposed identity Carl 'Charles' Webb, born Footscray 16 November 1905 (Abbott and Fitzpatrick, 26 July 2022)⁠[[5]] Official status Not confirmed; police report to the coroner pending as of 6 July 2026⁠[[7]] Status Partly explained Questions 0 of 4 answered People [**Carl 'Charles' Webb** Electrical instrument maker of Melbourne; proposed identity](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/people/FIG0CVC1VBJ5QAC/carl-charles-webb)[**Derek Abbott** Professor of electrical engineering, University of Adelaide](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/people/FIG0CVC1VKC0HWA/derek-abbott)[**Colleen Fitzpatrick** Forensic genealogist, Identifinders International](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/people/FIG0CVC1VV649EB/colleen-fitzpatrick)[**Jessica Thomson (born Harkness)** Nurse whose number was in the book](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/people/FIG0CVC1W306K6Z/jessica-thomson-born-harkness)[**John Burton Cleland** Pathologist who examined the body and found the scrap](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/people/FIG0CVC1WAT7R4F/john-burton-cleland) Catalog key**MYS** 0CVC1SMW1WNQ Early on 1 December 1948 a well-dressed man was found dead, propped against the sea wall at Somerton Park, a beach suburb of Adelaide. He carried no identification and the labels had been cut from his clothes. The pathologist found congested organs and no natural cause, and thought he had been poisoned; no poison was identified⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. In June 1949 a rolled scrap of paper printed "Tamam Shud" ("it is ended") was found in a hidden fob pocket. It had been torn from a copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam that a man handed to police in July; in the back of the book were five lines of pencilled capitals and an unlisted telephone number belonging to a Glenelg nurse, Jessica Thomson⁠[[3]]⁠[[4]]⁠[[2]]. The inquest was adjourned in 1949 without finding who he was or how he died, and the case became Australia's best known unsolved death⁠[[1]]. In 2009 Derek Abbott of the University of Adelaide began working on it with his students. In July 2022 he and the American genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick announced that DNA from hairs embedded in the 1949 plaster bust matched relatives of Carl "Charles" Webb, an electrical instrument maker born in Melbourne in 1905 who had left his wife in 1947⁠[[5]]⁠[[6]]. South Australia Police, which exhumed the body in May 2021, called itself "cautiously optimistic" but has not confirmed the identification; in July 2026 its report to the coroner was still being written⁠[[6]]⁠[[7]]. Of the 4 questions on this site, 0 are answered. The most likely answer to “How did he die?”, not yet confirmed: he took poison deliberately, probably a cardiac glycoside or a hypnotic. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**How did he die?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC20QE314Y/how-did-he-die)Most likely: he took poison deliberately, probably a cardiac glycoside or a hypnotic [**What are the five pencilled lines in the Rubaiyat?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC20Z85TC8/what-are-the-five-pencilled-lines-in-the-rubaiyat)Most likely: the letters are the initial letters of words of an English text, written as personal shorthand [**Who was the Somerton Man?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC20FM0WNT/who-was-the-somerton-man)Most likely: he was Carl "Charles" Webb, born in Footscray in 1905, an electrical instrument maker who left Melbourne in… [All 4 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=somerton-man) ## What happened The man is thought to have arrived in Adelaide by overnight train on 30 November 1948. He bought a rail ticket to Henley Beach that he did not use, left a brown suitcase in the station cloakroom, and took a bus toward Glenelg. Two couples on the beach that evening saw a man lying in the same spot, one of them around 7 pm, the other between 7:30 and 8 pm. He was found dead there at about 6:30 the next morning; the autopsy put death at about 2 am, found no foreign substance, and the pathologist John Dwyer was "quite convinced the death could not have been natural"⁠[[2]]. The suitcase, found in January 1949, held clothes with the name "T. Keane" or "Keane" and some cut labels; it was destroyed in 1986⁠[[2]]. [![Police photographs of the body and of where it lay, December 1948](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/cd392d406b90ea70efddc3624879e973a4f558d982420820474ba7f24973c4fe.jpg)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2CP85SGP/police-photographs-of-the-body-and-of-where-it-lay-december) Police photographs of the body and of where it lay, December 1948South Australia Police, 1948. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2CP85SGP/police-photographs-of-the-body-and-of-where-it-lay-december) He was buried in West Terrace Cemetery in June 1949 after police made a plaster cast of his head and shoulders. The cast, which holds strands of his hair, is kept by the South Australia Police Historical Society⁠[[2]]. **Map of the area** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/map) [Area][Region] [+][−] 1 **Somerton Park beach, Adelaide** Beach Within 100 m 2 **Glenelg, Adelaide** Suburb Within 1 km 3 **West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide** Cemetery Within 1 km 4 **Adelaide railway station** Railway station Within 100 m MappedWithin 1 kmNatural Earth ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## The accounts The Rubaiyat was handed in on 22 July 1949 by a man who said he had found it in the back of his unlocked car at Glenelg around the time of the death; police used a pseudonym for him and he has never been named⁠[[4]]⁠[[2]]. The telephone number in it led to Jessica Thomson, who lived about 400 metres from where the body lay. Shown the cast, she said she did not know the man; the detective who made the cast described her as close to fainting. She asked that her name be kept out of the case, and it was not made public until much later⁠[[2]]. She said she had given a copy of the Rubaiyat to an army acquaintance, Alf Boxall, in 1945; Boxall was found alive in Sydney with his copy intact⁠[[2]]. [![The "Tamam Shud" scrap](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/ad2f0e5495257e9c8982daecdcf92505c61f17cb8e278cd66bb034ddebaa02af.jpg)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2AZJ74Z6/the-tamam-shud-scrap) The "Tamam Shud" scrapSouth Australia Police, 1949. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2AZJ74Z6/the-tamam-shud-scrap) Webb's wife, Dorothy, described him as solitary, moody and violent, said he wrote poems about death, and said he had tried to kill himself with ether in March 1946. She left him in September 1946; he moved out in 1947 and she later divorced him for desertion. Her account is the main source on his state of mind⁠[[2]]⁠[[5]]. ## What was recorded The coroner's 1949 inquest file survives in State Records of South Australia (GRG1/27, file 71/1949) and is open; the file of the 1958 resumed inquest is restricted. Police files are not in the archive because the case is open⁠[[1]]. The 1948 and 1949 autopsy reports themselves are missing⁠[[2]]. The pencilled text in the Rubaiyat is known from the police photograph. It reads WRGOABABD, a struck-out MLIAOI, WTBIMPANETP, MLIABOAIAQC (with an X above the second O) and ITTMTSAMSTGAB. The first letters of lines one and three may be M or W, the first of the last line I or V, and its third-last letter G or C⁠[[2]]⁠[[8]]. Naval and later Defence cryptographers could not read it; in 1978 the Department of Defence said there were "insufficient symbols" for a clear meaning and that it might be the product of a disturbed mind⁠[[9]]⁠[[2]]. [![The Rubaiyat (Whitcombe and Tombs, 1941) with the pencilled code and telephone number](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/cfcd5af0e9d34adeb41d41eb82235924aa68b4eb80837c5101988a260fa64f9d/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2AFY695G/the-rubaiyat-whitcombe-and-tombs-1941-with-the-pencilled) The Rubaiyat (Whitcombe and Tombs, 1941) with the pencilled code and telephone numberSouth Australia Police, 1949. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2AFY695G/the-rubaiyat-whitcombe-and-tombs-1941-with-the-pencilled) In 2009 Abbott's students compared the 44 letters with letter frequencies in eight languages, with random letters written by 37 sober and 18 intoxicated volunteers, and with the initial letters of English text. The best fit by far, under first- and second-order Markov models, was the initial letters of English words; Playfair, Vigenère and one-time-pad readings keyed on the Bible and the Rubaiyat failed⁠[[8]]. A 2010 team searched large text collections for the code's initialism patterns and found none in the Rubaiyat⁠[[10]]. John Rehling (2014) also found the letters almost certainly an initialism of English but found no matching passage in more than 20,000 Project Gutenberg books⁠[[11]]. The DNA work went in stages. Abbott was allowed to take hair from the bust in 2011; in 2018 the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA recovered the full mitochondrial genome (haplogroup H4a1a1a); in 2022 an autosomal SNP profile from more hair was matched through genealogy databases to distant cousins on both sides of the Webb family, and the family tree narrowed the candidates to the one Webb sibling with no recorded death⁠[[5]]⁠[[6]]⁠[[12]]. Police exhumed the body on 19 May 2021 for their own testing, which has not been reported⁠[[2]]⁠[[7]]. ## The explanations Identity. The Webb identification predicts that official DNA from the exhumed remains will match the Webb relatives and that no record of Webb's death elsewhere will turn up. It fits the "Keane" clothing, since Webb's sister Freda married a Thomas Keane⁠[[5]]. It has not been tested by an independent laboratory in public, and the police have said only that the result will be for the coroner to decide⁠[[6]]⁠[[7]]. Earlier proposed identities (the seaman H. C. Reynolds from a 1918 identity card, the Austrian milliner Carl Halban) rested on photographs or circumstance and are not supported by DNA⁠[[2]]. The theory that Robin Thomson, Jessica's son, was the man's child, based on shared rare ear and tooth features, was ruled out by DNA⁠[[5]]. [![Plaster bust (death cast) of the Somerton Man, with hair embedded](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/somerton-man-a-bust-c0)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2A8473XZ/plaster-bust-death-cast-of-the-somerton-man-with-hair) Plaster bust (death cast) of the Somerton Man, with hair embeddedSouth Australia Police, 1949. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2A8473XZ/plaster-bust-death-cast-of-the-somerton-man-with-hair) Death. The pathologist favoured suicide by poison; a 1994 review by John Harber Phillips suggested digitalis⁠[[1]]⁠[[2]]. Webb's history as his wife described it fits suicide, and Abbott and Fitzpatrick hold that view⁠[[2]]⁠[[7]]. Murder and espionage theories, built on the Cold War setting and the missing labels, have no physical evidence behind them⁠[[2]]. The code. The statistical work supports a list of initial letters of English words, written as shorthand, over a cipher; no source text has been found, and Abbott has suggested horse names, since Webb bet on races⁠[[8]]⁠[[11]]⁠[[2]]. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1949 | Coroner Thomas Cleland⁠[1] | The man almost certainly died of poison, probably a glucoside, not taken by accident, though whether he took it himself could not be said. | Most likely | The organs pointed to poisoning and no natural disease was found, but no poison was ever detected⁠[1] | | 1949 | Naval code experts, reported by The Advertiser⁠[9] | The pencilled letters in the Rubaiyat are a code that naval experts could not break. | Disputed | Playfair, Vigenère and one-time-pad readings all fail, and the letters behave like the initials of English words⁠[8] | | 2009 | Andrew Turnbull and Denley Bihari, under Derek Abbott⁠[8] | The code is most likely the initial letters of an English text, not a cipher and not random letters. | Accepted | An independent n-gram analysis reached the same result, though no matching passage has been found⁠[11] | | 2013 | Kate Thomson⁠[13] | Her mother Jessica Thomson knew who the man was, lied to police, and was linked to Soviet spying. | Still possible | It rests on what her mother told her, with no document behind it⁠[13] | | 2013 | Roma and Rachel Egan⁠[13] | The Somerton Man was the father of Jessica Thomson's son Robin, who shared his rare ear and tooth traits. | Ruled out | DNA found no family link between Rachel Egan, Robin's daughter, and the man⁠[5] | | 2014 | John Rehling⁠[11] | An n-gram analysis shows the code is almost certainly an initialism of short English text. | Accepted | It agrees with the Adelaide students' Markov tests⁠[8] | | 2022 | Derek Abbott and Colleen Fitzpatrick⁠[5] | DNA from hair in the death mask identifies the man as Carl "Charles" Webb, an electrical instrument maker from Melbourne born in 1905. | Accepted | Matches on both sides of Webb's family and the Keane names on clothes in the suitcase support it, though police have not yet reported to the coroner⁠[6]⁠[7] | ## What would settle it The coroner's findings, based on police DNA from the exhumed remains compared with Webb relatives, would settle the identity. A source document for the code (a race card, a poem, a draft in Webb's hand) would settle the code, and handwriting comparison with any surviving Webb writing would at least show who wrote it. Cause of death is probably beyond reach: Abbott says the remains can tell nothing more about it⁠[[7]]. ## Questions 0 of 4 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 4](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=somerton-man) **0** [How did he die?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC20QE314Y/how-did-he-die) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: he took poison deliberately, probably a cardiac glycoside or a hypnotic **0** [What are the five pencilled lines in the Rubaiyat?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC20Z85TC8/what-are-the-five-pencilled-lines-in-the-rubaiyat) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the letters are the initial letters of words of an English text, written as personal shorthand **0** [Who was the Somerton Man?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC20FM0WNT/who-was-the-somerton-man) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: he was Carl "Charles" Webb, born in Footscray in 1905, an electrical instrument maker who left Melbourne in… ## Evidence 19 findings [Who was the Somerton Man?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC20FM0WNT/who-was-the-somerton-man)5 findings [He was Carl "Charles" Webb, born in Footscray in 1905, an electrical instrument maker who left Melbourne in…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC21EW67KQ/he-was-carl-charles-webb-born-in-footscray-in-1905-an)Most likely +[Autosomal DNA from hair in the death mask matched distant cousins on both the paternal and maternal sides of Webb's family; the tree narrowed to the one sibling with no recorded death.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC21PP74HJ/autosomal-dna-from-hair-in-the-death-mask-matched-distant)Supported +[Webb's sister Freda married Thomas Keane, matching the 'T. Keane' and 'Keane' names on clothes in the suitcase.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC21YG0CAD/webbs-sister-freda-married-thomas-keane-matching-the-t-keane)Suggestive −[South Australia Police have not confirmed the identification; as of July 2026 their report to the coroner was pending.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC226A4613/south-australia-police-have-not-confirmed-the-identification)Established [He was another named candidate (H. C. Reynolds, Carl Halban, or a relative of Jessica Thomson).](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC22E47Q9R/he-was-another-named-candidate-h-c-reynolds-carl-halban-or-a)Disputed −[These candidates rest on photograph comparison or circumstance, not DNA.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC22NY5J86/these-candidates-rest-on-photograph-comparison-or)Supported −[Robin Thomson, proposed as the man's son on shared rare ear and tooth traits, was ruled out by DNA.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC22XR5FZB/robin-thomson-proposed-as-the-mans-son-on-shared-rare-ear)Supported [How did he die?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC20QE314Y/how-did-he-die)6 findings [He took poison deliberately, probably a cardiac glycoside or a hypnotic.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC23DC5VS0/he-took-poison-deliberately-probably-a-cardiac-glycoside-or)Most likely +[Cleland concluded death was almost certainly not natural and that poison was probably taken with suicidal intent; the 'Tamam Shud' scrap fitted that view.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC23N61K3K/cleland-concluded-death-was-almost-certainly-not-natural-and)Supported +[Webb's wife said he tried to kill himself with ether in 1946 and wrote poems about wanting to die.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC23X04FNA/webbs-wife-said-he-tried-to-kill-himself-with-ether-in-1946)Suggestive +[A 1994 review by John Harber Phillips concluded 'there seems little doubt it was digitalis'.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC244T59V4/a-1994-review-by-john-harber-phillips-concluded-there-seems)Suggestive [He was poisoned by someone else, possibly in connection with espionage.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC24CM38JE/he-was-poisoned-by-someone-else-possibly-in-connection-with)Still possible +[A witness in 1959 reported seeing a man carrying another along the beach the night before.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC24ME2ZSM/a-witness-in-1959-reported-seeing-a-man-carrying-another)Speculative −[No physical evidence ties the death to another person or to intelligence work.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC24W83TW7/no-physical-evidence-ties-the-death-to-another-person-or-to)Supported [He died of natural causes.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC25427ZZ9/he-died-of-natural-causes)Disputed −[The heart was normal and the pathologist found no natural disease to account for death.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC25BW1SXB/the-heart-was-normal-and-the-pathologist-found-no-natural)Supported [What are the five pencilled lines in the Rubaiyat?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC20Z85TC8/what-are-the-five-pencilled-lines-in-the-rubaiyat)6 findings [The letters are the initial letters of words of an English text, written as personal shorthand.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC25VG1236/the-letters-are-the-initial-letters-of-words-of-an-english)Most likely +[First- and second-order Markov scores strongly favour English initial letters over other languages and over random letters from sober or intoxicated volunteers.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC263A5QGC/first-and-second-order-markov-scores-strongly-favour-english)Supported +[An independent n-gram analysis also finds it almost certainly an English initialism.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC26B4436M/an-independent-n-gram-analysis-also-finds-it-almost)Supported −[No matching passage has been found in more than 20,000 Project Gutenberg books.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC26JY12DD/no-matching-passage-has-been-found-in-more-than-20-000)Suggestive [The lines are an enciphered message (for example a one-time pad keyed on the Rubaiyat or a classical cipher).](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC26TR220R/the-lines-are-an-enciphered-message-for-example-a-one-time)Disputed −[Playfair, Vigenère and one-time-pad readings with Bible and Rubaiyat keys failed.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC272J46WE/playfair-vigenere-and-one-time-pad-readings-with-bible-and)Supported −[Defence cryptographers in 1978 found too few symbols for a satisfactory answer.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC27AC2ANR/defence-cryptographers-in-1978-found-too-few-symbols-for-a)Suggestive [The letters are meaningless, the product of a disturbed or intoxicated mind.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC27J66GJQ/the-letters-are-meaningless-the-product-of-a-disturbed-or)Disputed −[The code's distribution differs from random letters written by 55 volunteers, sober or drunk.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC27T06XV8/the-codes-distribution-differs-from-random-letters-written)Suggestive [Did Jessica Thomson know the man?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/questions/QST0CVC21721ZM4/did-jessica-thomson-know-the-man)2 findings [She knew him and concealed it.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC289M5DMA/she-knew-him-and-concealed-it)Still possible +[Her daughter said in 2013 that her mother had lied to police and knew who he was.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC28HE3NPF/her-daughter-said-in-2013-that-her-mother-had-lied-to-police)Speculative [She did not know him; the number came to be in the book some other way.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/answers/ANS0CVC28S84N3X/she-did-not-know-him-the-number-came-to-be-in-the-book-some)Most likely +[DNA ruled out her son Robin as the man's child, removing the main argument for a relationship.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/evidence/EVD0CVC29120N8H/dna-ruled-out-her-son-robin-as-the-mans-child-removing-the)Supported ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 16](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts) Photo1 step from object [Plaster bust (death cast) of the Somerton Man, with hair embedded](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2A8473XZ/plaster-bust-death-cast-of-the-somerton-man-with-hair) South Australia Police · Public domain (Australian Crown copyright expired, PD-AustraliaGov) Photo1 step from object [The Rubaiyat (Whitcombe and Tombs, 1941) with the pencilled code and telephone number](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2AFY695G/the-rubaiyat-whitcombe-and-tombs-1941-with-the-pencilled) South Australia Police · Public domain (Australian Crown copyright expired, PD-AustraliaGov) Photo1 step from object [The "Tamam Shud" scrap](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2AZJ74Z6/the-tamam-shud-scrap) South Australia Police · Public domain (PD-US, too simple for copyright) Document1 step from object [The exhumed remains](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2BF62F37/the-exhumed-remains) believed to be at the Forensic Science Centre, Adelaide (not confirmed by police) Photo1 step from object [Brown suitcase and contents](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2BQ0136M/brown-suitcase-and-contents) South Australia Police · Public domain (Australian Crown copyright expired, PD-AustraliaGov) Photo1 step from object [Police photographs of the body and of where it lay, December 1948](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2CP85SGP/police-photographs-of-the-body-and-of-where-it-lay-december) South Australia Police · Public domain (Australian Crown copyright expired, PD-AustraliaGov) Document1 step from object [The coroner's inquest file, 1949 (GRG1/27, file 71/1949)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts/ART0CVC2D5W234E/the-coroners-inquest-file-1949-grg1-27-file-71-1949) State Records of South Australia [See all 16 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man/artifacts) ## See also [ **Dyatlov Pass incident** Nine ski-tourers who died after leaving their tent in the northern Urals in 1959. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass) [ **Isdal Woman** A woman found burned above Bergen, Norway, in 1970, who had used false identities. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/isdal-woman) [ **Roswell, 1947** Debris found near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 and announced as a flying disc. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/roswell) [ **Hijacking of Northwest 305 (D. B. Cooper)** A 1971 hijacker who jumped from a Boeing 727 with $200,000 and was never identified. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/db-cooper) ## References 1. 1.[State Records of South Australia n.d.. 'But what poison?' Mystery of the Somerton Man. Archives SA, Stories from the archive (first posted 2015; updated 7 September 2022).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1QEJ5129/but-what-poison-mystery-of-the-somerton-man)cited 8 times here**SRC** 0CVC1QEJ5129 1. 2.[Wikipedia contributors n.d.. Somerton Man. Wikipedia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1S587WM4/somerton-man)cited 33 times here**SRC** 0CVC1S587WM4 1. 3.[The Advertiser (Adelaide) 1949. Cryptic Note on Body. The Advertiser, 9 June 1949, p. 1.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1QPC0KPQ/cryptic-note-on-body)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CVC1QPC0KPQ 1. 4.[The Advertiser (Adelaide) 1949. Police Test Book For Somerton Body Clue. The Advertiser, 26 July 1949, p. 3.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1QY66476/police-test-book-for-somerton-body-clue)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CVC1QY66476 1. 5.[Identifinders International 2022. The Somerton Man Identified. PR Newswire, 26 July 2022.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1PYY2H6E/the-somerton-man-identified)cited 11 times here**SRC** 0CVC1PYY2H6E 1. 6.[Bonvillian, C. 2022. DNA leads to ID of Australia's Somerton man, researchers say. Cox Media Group National Content Desk (WSB-TV), 2 August 2022.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1PQ46YF7/dna-leads-to-id-of-australias-somerton-man-researchers-say)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CVC1PQ46YF7 1. 7.[Boisvert, E. 2026. SA Police report to coroner into Somerton Man case complete 'very soon'. ABC News, 6 July 2026.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1PFA0V0E/sa-police-report-to-coroner-into-somerton-man-case-complete)cited 6 times here**SRC** 0CVC1PFA0V0E 1. 8.[Turnbull, A., Bihari, D. 2009. Final report 2009: Who killed the Somerton man?. University of Adelaide, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering honours project (supervisors Derek Abbott, Matthew Berryman).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1RDT58E3/final-report-2009-who-killed-the-somerton-man)cited 8 times here**SRC** 0CVC1RDT58E3 1. 9.[The Advertiser (Adelaide) 1949. This beat the Navy. The Advertiser, 29 August 1949, p. 2.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1R602ZCK/this-beat-the-navy)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CVC1R602ZCK 1. 10.[University of Adelaide honours project team 2010. Final Report 2010 (Cipher Cracking 2010). University of Adelaide, Derek Abbott's project wiki.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1RNM7337/final-report-2010-cipher-cracking-2010)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CVC1RNM7337 1. 11.[Rehling, J. 2014. Murder and NLP: Taman Shud case splash. NLP Confidential (blog), 24 July 2014.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1RXE1BT9/murder-and-nlp-taman-shud-case-splash)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0CVC1RXE1BT9 1. 12.[Abbott, D. 2023. Finding Somerton Man: How DNA, AI Facial Reconstruction, and Sheer Grit Cracked a 75-Year-Old Cold Case. IEEE Spectrum 60(4): 22-30.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1Q6R3MRS/finding-somerton-man-how-dna-ai-facial-reconstruction-and)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1109/mspec.2023.10092395)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CVC1Q6R3MRS 1. 13.[Pelling, N. 2013. 60 Minutes and the "known" Somerton Man. Cipher Mysteries, 24 November 2013.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CVC1SWP2HMB/60-minutes-and-the-known-somerton-man)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CVC1SWP2HMB Last edited 27 Oct 2026