On Dec. 1, 1948, the body of a man was found on Somerton Beach in South Australia. The man has never been identified and as such the investigation into his identity and the circumstances of this death remain an open inquiry.
Following approval by the Attorney-General Vickie Chapman, his body was exhumed this morning. The case is in the hands of the SA Police’s Major Crime Investigation Branch, who have continued to review and investigate the matter.
Detective Superintendent Des Bray said the exhuming of the man’s body is yet another course of action in the ongoing active investigations.
”Following recovery of the remains, Forensic Science SA will attempt to recover a DNA profile from the man,” Bray said.
If a DNA profile can be obtained, subject to the amount and quality of the DNA, Bray said a forensic case meeting will then be held to formulate the most appropriate strategy going forward—most likely requiring considerable investigation work to have any chance of identifying the man or where he originated from.
“The technology available to us now is clearly light years ahead of the techniques available when this body was discovered in the late 1940s,” said Anne Coxon, Forensic Science SA’s Assistant Director of Operations. “Tests of this nature are often highly complex and will take time, however we will be using every method at our disposal to try and bring closure to this enduring mystery."
Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said she believes the Forensic Science SA team is well equipped to handle the challenging task.
“For more than 70 years, people have speculated who this man was and how he died,” Chapman said. “It’s a story that has captured the imagination of people across the state, and, indeed, across the world. I believe that, finally, we may uncover some answers, thanks to the combined expertise of SA Police and FSSA,” she said.
This case is part of Operation Persevere, which has been implemented in part to identify all unidentified human remains in South Australia. It runs in tandem with Operation Persist, under which cold case homicides are actively investigated.
Republished courtesy of the South Australia Police. Photo credit: SA Police.