UK UK - Bristol, WhtMale, 45 to 60, Duke & Grand Duchess medallion, Oct'81

Gender Male
Age Range 45 to 60
Ethnicity White European
Height (cm) 175cm
Build Large
Date found 14 October 1981
Body or remains Body
Hair Brown - Receding
Eye colour Blue

Distinguishing features
Scar - unspecified abdomen

Clothing
Overcoat - Brown - Duffle hooded
Jumper - V neck - Brown - Size 52
Trousers - Grey - Checked - Grey and black
Footwear - Boots - Brown - Size 11 lace-up half boots
Underwear - Cotton underclothing that buttons up to the neck

Jewellery
Chain - 1 - 24" long bronze coloured with medallion thereon bearing male and female heads with 'duke of Edinburgh and grand duchess Marie of Russia married 1874'

Circumstances
Found in River Avon, Bristol. He had been in the water several days.
http://www.missingpersons.police.uk/en/case/06-025582

Bigger post mortem photo (scroll to case 9)
http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/the-1...lice-s-books/story-29646082-detail/story.html

Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia was the wife of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the second son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was born on October 17, 1853 at Tsarskoye Selo, the only daughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. Marie had seven siblings.
...
During a family holiday in Denmark in 1871, Marie met Prince Alfred. Despite the misgivings of both her parents and Alfred’s mother, the couple were married on January 23, 1874 at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Upon their return to London, they took up residence at Clarence House in London, and Eastwell Park in Kent, which they leased until 1893. They had six children.
...
The new Duchess of Edinburgh was not well received by British society, many of whom though her very condescending and haughty. And from most accounts, this was very true. Used to the splendour and pageantry of the Russian court, she found the British court very dull by comparison. She also felt that, as the daughter of an Emperor, she should outrank all the other members of the British royal family – in particular, her sister-in-law, The Princess of Wales, who was merely the daughter of a king.
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/gr...f-edinburgh-duchess-of-saxe-coburg-and-gotha/

Why would guy wear necklace with medallion commemorating Duke Alfred and Duchess Marie wedding?

The medallion was most likely originally suspended from a cloth ribbon. In 1899 ,a medallion commemorating the 25th wedding anniversary of Alfred and Marie was issued. Those 1899 medallions were given to many members of the British and Russian royal families. http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?cPath=498_276&products_id=2057

In 1981, Prince Charles and Princess Di were married. The British celebrated for months. Charles and Di's images were plastered on anything salable, including towels. Maybe he was wearing it to join in the celebrations?

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/1058dmnet.html
It's a bit of a stretch but he could have ended up in the UK and maybe have put on weight perhaps.
I also thought of Father Henryk who dissapeared after a phone call in 1953. He would have been 68-69 in 1981 so the age range is a bit out.

rainwater said:

The medallion was most likely originally suspended from a cloth ribbon. In 1899 ,a medallion commemorating the 25th wedding anniversary of Alfred and Marie was issued. Those 1899 medallions were given to many members of the British and Russian royal families. http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?cPath=498_276&products_id=2057

In 1981, Prince Charles and Princess Di were married. The British celebrated for months. Charles and Di's images were plastered on anything salable, including towels. Maybe he was wearing it to join in the celebrations?

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For some reason I doubt he had original medallion on him, it would be probably stated by LE. Originals of 1874 had also different writing in the back of them. I have found cheaper replica though, with the same writing


http://www.ebay.ie/itm/1874-BRITAIN...201204?hash=item41a5d6f0b4:g:36oAAOSwZ8ZW6MyJ

Question would be where did he obtain it? Even with big Diana royal wedding happening in 1981 and all celebrations, this particular 1874 medallion would be probably quiet hard to get.

sonz82 said:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/1058dmnet.html
It's a bit of a stretch but he could have ended up in the UK and maybe have put on weight perhaps.
I also thought of Father Henryk who dissapeared after a phone call in 1953. He would have been 68-69 in 1981 so the age range is a bit out.

Click to expand...

Strangely I was going through Dutch missing persons profiles too, as none of UK listed missing are matching him. I am not sure who Father Henryk is.
Person I came across is Arie Cornelis van den Berg, missing when 46 from Amsterdam, Netherlands and I think bears quite a resemblance to this John Doe. He went missing in 1967 after telling wife he is going out to make a call and never returned. My interest was peeked when I have found article that his daughter who is still searching for him came across suitcase in 2004 at their home with old photographs of his family, poems, his written thoughts, letters and picture of his English female friend. As per letters he was fascinated with England and New Zealand.
He would be 60 years old in 1981 matching age estimated for this John Doe.


His profile - https://www.politie.nl/en/wanted-and-missing/missing-adults/1967/december/arie-van-den-berg.html
He has slightly curly brown hair, strong and heavy jaw, quite similar to this John Doe. Opinions???

Article about his daughter's search for him, unfortunately in Dutch.
http://www.thuisinhetnieuws.nl/artikel/13974/vermissing-een-onbeantwoorde-vraag-039.html

Arie does look like a good match.
Father Henryk borinski dissapears from Yorkshire in 1953.he is listed on the doe network.

sonz82 said:

Arie does look like a good match.
Father Henryk borinski dissapears from Yorkshire in 1953.he is listed on the doe network.

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Thank you for heads up. I forgot to add that Arie is listed as 171 cm tall and UID 175cm , 4 cm or 2 inch difference, which I don't think is that significant. Eyebrows of Arie seems quite close on this photo, but on his other photo in profile it is visible they are quite apart, similar to UID. My concern is 13-14 years gap. Pity I can't post both their photo here for comparison, as we have no sketch and post mortems photos are just too rough to post publicly. I might give shout to Carl to get one extra opinion on this, if it really is strong enough match before I call it in.

Wow, priest Henryk Borynski case is wild as it gets. I do believe he was assassinated around the time he went missing so it could not be this UID. It seem as it was very huge case, even MI5 and Interpol helped in searches for him? And church told police to stay away? hmm. Strangely I have not seen him listed on UK missing person site either, which does not make me too happy. I will try to make thread for him here in next few days. I will post link here too once I do.

Al Ka said:

For some reason I doubt he had original medallion on him, it would be probably stated by LE. Originals of 1874 had also different writing in the back of them.

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It's obvious that this medallion was not originally intended to be worn like that. Not only is some of the lettering cut through but the hole in the piece looks to be slightly rough at the top of the hold of the side with the faces on. Someone has deliberately drilled the medallion so it can be worn, perhaps to ensure it was less likely to be lost.

I'd like to see some DNA and isotope information for this chap. It's possible that he was Russian or of Russian descent, and that he could have come to the UK as a child in the 1930s or during or at the end of the war. He might also have been born in the UK to parents who themselves came to the UK as refugees from Stalin.

There has always been a pro-monarchist element amongst the Russian emigre community, especially those from the old aristocracy and their supporters - the Whites as opposed to the Reds. It's not impossible that he was linked to them.

I notice there's no information about the cause of his death. Presumably it was murder or suicide.

I think borinski was afraid for his safety and made himself dissapear but I'm just speculating
In regards to the Russian link, I think he was polish , which is fairly close to Russia and he emigrated to the UK too
He is listed on the doe network and there's more information on Wikipedia and British news sites

sonz82 said:

I think borinski was afraid for his safety and made himself dissapear but I'm just speculating
In regards to the Russian link, I think he was polish , which is fairly close to Russia and he emigrated to the UK too
He is listed on the doe network and there's more information on Wikipedia and British news sites

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Ok, I have just created thread for Father Henryk Borynski, link http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...yk-Borynski-(priest)-42-Bradford-July-13-1953

Media article 11 May 2019

The bodies found in Bristol that have never been identified

Man with checkered trousers and 24 inch bronze chain
In 1981 a man was found in the River Avon in Bristol.
It is believed he had been in the water for several days before he was spotted on October 14.
The man, aged 45 to 60, was never identified despite his distinct clothing.
At the time of his death he was wearing a brown overcoat with a duffle hood and a brown v-neck size 52 with grey and black checkered trousers.
Around his neck he had a 24-inch bronze chain and medallion bearing male and female heads with 'Duke of Edinburgh and Grand Duchess Marie of Russia married 1874'.
On his feet he had size 11 brown lace-up boots. He was also wearing cotton underclothing that buttoned up to the neck.
He had brown receding hair, blue eyes and a large scar on his abdomen.

UKMP is down

Grungster said:

UKMP is down

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Oh, that is exciting news. I really hope he got identified. I know new UK org Locate International was looking into this case recently. Hopefully that brought more eyes to revisit the case.

Hopefully there will be some official update on this soon.