Australia Australia - Tamam Shud Case - Male, Dec 1948

[Roselvr]

I'd hope that the case will be solved at some point this year since he was exhumed almost a year ago.

 

[Melt71]

Operation Persevere, the South Australian state program to identify their UIDs is moving along, with the confirmation of ID of a 1978 case. Though note this seems to have been a one-to-one comparison and did not involve genetic genealogy (New DNA comparison provides 'extremely strong' link between bones and man who went missing from Whyalla in 1976 - ABC News). No update on Somerton Man is given in this article but good to see the program is moving along.

 

[Richard]

Artist's composite of Somerton Man, 1948. Who was he?

More information, photos, and composites at link.

LINK:

The Somerton Man: Tamam Shud Case | Missing Souls

 

[Dayn Torres]

Hi! I'm new here but I'm really interested in this case. I have my own theory <modsnip - reddit not allowed>
Good afternoon, everyone who is interested in Tamam Shud case! I have my own theory about it and some questions for you.

_Questions_

Do you know anything about Somerton-man's DNA analysis? Could the Rubaiyat's text contain the decryption of the cipher? Is it really the Vernam Cipher? If so, don't you think that the key word could had been already encrypted? What do you think of the version about this man being a Russian spy? Do you beleive that Somerton-man had an affair with Jestyn and he is the father of her son? Do you think that this accident is connected to the death of Joseph Marshall in 1945?

_The story of Somerton-man_

I have my own theory but it has some blank spaces. I thought that Somerton-man is from USA, because I saw the info about his suit and stitches on it being American. According to the DNA analysis in 2018 he belonged to haplogroup h4a1a1a. And half of this group lives in North America. Also, after WW2 Australia and USA had good relationships. He was born in 1900-1901 (I know, that it's not the same year that is in the Net, but I will try to explain it later while talking about the identification of Somerton-man). He moved to Australia and had a family. Then he met Jestyn. Then smth happened amd she moved. Then he decided to found her and came to Adelaide to talk to her. That's why he didn't bring anything with him. Maybe the talk was unsuccessful and he committed a suicide. He just wanted to die alone in peace. However, I stick to the opinion that he might had a chronic disease. Also, I agree with the fact that he was poisoned with hemotoxin (according to the symptomatic).

_The cipher_

Also a cipher could be written by himself before 11 a.m. on 30th of November in 1948 (saw a theory in the Net).

_The identification of Somerton-man_

One of the most interesting ideas in this investigation was the identification of Somerton-man. In many sources I saw the theory about him being H C Reynolds, a sailor from USA. In 1918 he was 18. This way, there is a probability that he was born in 1900. So in 1948 he was around 48 y.o. Also the shape of his feet confirms the assumption that he worn narrow shoes which is typical for sailors. Also I read that he hadn't got 18 teeth! This could be from scurvy which is a common disease among sailors. Also cigarrettes show that he could suffer from stress. 1948 is the post-war time. War always causes a lion's share of stress. Also he has a rare ear shape (only 1% in the world has it). Reynolds had those ears as well as Jestyn's son. Reynolds and Somerton-man are look-alikes. I compared the Somerton-man's and Reynolds photos. Also I colorized them with the help of the Internet. This could be the same person. You can see the photos in the previous post.

_My stupid attempt to solve the mistery of the cipher_

Of course, I know that it could be Vernam Cipher but all my attempts to decode it was hopeless as I don't know the key word. I tried a lot of variants including Jestyn name, Tamam Shud, Reynolds, other places and other word combinations. I had the stupidest, the most childish idea. I thought that cipher - is geographical coordinates. I number every letter according to its place in English alphabet. Then I performed some manipulations on produced number. I got around 120 coordinates. I analyzed all of them. Most of them are in Atlantic ocean and around USA. Three of them are around Australia. Some of them are around Africa. I thought that Somerton-man could write a cipher that contains the explaination of his death if the suicide version is true. Or it could contain his previous whereabouts. Or in those places we could find something important.

_Conclusion, Jessica and a woman from Adelaide_

After all this, I think Jestyn and H C Reynolds (Somerton-man) definitely have an affair. Don't you think that her behaviour was very suspicious? She was kind of afraid of telling any information about him to the police, she didn't want the public to know that. She even tried to hide her real name. What for? Maybe it's very personal. Let's imagine, that a woman, who gave the sailor's ID to the police is a daughter of our mister X. This way, he had a family. They lived in Sydney as well as Jessica (Jestyn) in I943-1946 (according to findings he had some clothes and other belongings from Sydney). In this term they had something (an affair). She got pregnant and moved to Melbourne to her mother. Maybe during that all she was already in love with Prosper (her future husband). In 1948 she was in Adelaide yet. I think that "Reynolds" came in Adelaide from Melbourne (according to train timetable on 30th of November in 1948). Evidently, he tried to seek and find Jessica. He wanted to impress Jessica as he was dressed well. He didn't bring anything with himself. His body was found on the distance of 400 m away from her home. Maybe he just wanted to explain with her or he wanted to see his son. The rest of his family could move to Adelaide after his death. As for his daughter, it was really interesting to find her estranged father as well as for a number of children who lives with only one parent. So, she brought his belongings with her.

Now I'm trying to analyze the cause of death. It's very confusing. I know that there're a lot of blank spaces and it's full of rubbish. However, we can't talk to witnesses and Jestyn as they are now all dead. Also, I tried to write Derek Abbott on reddit with almost similar text. I'm always glad to read all your ideas. Let me know if you have something to say. Have a nice day!

Shine bright,
Dayn Torres

 

[Melt71]

Welcome @Dayn Torres if you haven't already watched the ABC Australia program
Somerton Man: Decoding historic body-on-the-beach mystery (updated) | Australian Story dated 6 September 2021 (found on YT with the above title) then you may find it interesting as it discusses a lot of the theories you outline above.

 

[Victoria Chambers]

11 months since Somerton Man exhumation. Do you think the lack of any press release (or Derek Abbott announcements) points to a failure to get sufficient DNA or perhaps there was no match between SM and Rachel, since that would have been tested for sure by now?? Perhaps that would lead to the experts focusing on a widening search of familial networks?? I thought a massive public interest would at least prompt some information being relayed by now. Fingers crossed.

 

[Ajaygee11]

11 months since Somerton Man exhumation. Do you think the lack of any press release (or Derek Abbott announcements) points to a failure to get sufficient DNA or perhaps there was no match between SM and Rachel, since that would have been tested for sure by now?? Perhaps that would lead to the experts focusing on a widening search of familial networks?? I thought a massive public interest would at least prompt some information being relayed by now. Fingers crossed.

If they have hit a roadblock they need to talk to Othram.

 

[Melt71]

11 months since Somerton Man exhumation. Do you think the lack of any press release (or Derek Abbott announcements) points to a failure to get sufficient DNA or perhaps there was no match between SM and Rachel, since that would have been tested for sure by now?? Perhaps that would lead to the experts focusing on a widening search of familial networks?? I thought a massive public interest would at least prompt some information being relayed by now. Fingers crossed.

I wouldn’t say there’s massive public interest in the case. Amongst people like us that know how these things work and have more than a passing interest, yea. I’m sure SA Police want the case solved as it must take an inordinate amount of their time, particularly their media unit. Prof Abbott and his family - their interest goes without saying.

But in most Aussies I’m sure there’s nothing more than a casual interest - if that - in the case. Certainly none of my colleagues, family or extended friendship group are discussing the case around the dinner table. Much to my dismay, as I was very keen to hear everyone’s thoughts during a recent trip and most people just looked at me blankly.

 

[Victoria Chambers]

I ought to have said global interest perhaps. The story of Somerton Man has travelled far beyond Australia, unlike the majority of unidentified persons, sadly.

 

[Kemug]

I am no expert, but I do find it puzzling that apparently no DNA has been extracted from SM's bones. IIRC, the crushed bones of the murdered Romanovs were found to be a match with the blood sample given by the late Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, a near descendant. And that was decades later. So what is the problem here?

 

[Tahlia Woodson]

I am no expert, but I do find it puzzling that apparently no DNA has been extracted from SM's bones. IIRC, the crushed bones of the murdered Romanovs were found to be a match with the blood sample given by the late Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, a near descendant. And that was decades later. So what is the problem here?

Do we know for certain that there has been no DNA extracted yet? Not doubting it, but I think they could possibly be keeping information under wraps, but who knows. I think the DNA technology is a less advanced here in AUS than the USA, so I'm worried that that might be why the case isn't advancing; we don't have anything like Othram or DNA Doe Project to assist

 

[Kemug]

Do we know for certain that there has been no DNA extracted yet? Not doubting it, but I think they could possibly be keeping information under wraps, but who knows. I think the DNA technology is a less advanced here in AUS than the USA, so I'm worried that that might be why the case isn't advancing; we don't have anything like Othram or DNA Doe Project to assist

No, we don't know for certain - noone is telling us anything. But why would it be kept a secret? I don't know what countries may have worked on the Russian case, but surely all DNA technologies should be available to all countries. I wish Derek Abbott would check in here!

 

[Tahlia Woodson]

No, we don't know for certain - noone is telling us anything. But why would it be kept a secret? I don't know what countries may have worked on the Russian case, but surely all DNA technologies should be available to all countries. I wish Derek Abbott would check in here!

Perhaps they're trying to keep information confidential? It's a pretty high profile case, maybe they don't want information being leaked or such. I can think of a few cases where they were quiet about the genealogy research they were doing (Sherri Jarvis, Evelyn Colon, Gordie Sanderson)...

 

[marv hucker]

No, we don't know for certain - noone is telling us anything. But why would it be kept a secret? I don't know what countries may have worked on the Russian case, but surely all DNA technologies should be available to all countries. I wish Derek Abbott would check in here!

It wouldn’t be the technology as much as the dataset (and access to said data)
Forensic genealogy only works because millions (tens of millions?) of Americans have uploaded at-home swab DNA profiles to online databases.
That’s what the forensic genealogy works off (basically), comparing samples to what’s up there and finding links.



Those kits aren’t common here, so the data isn’t there.

 

[marv hucker]

11 months since Somerton Man exhumation. Do you think the lack of any press release (or Derek Abbott announcements) points to a failure to get sufficient DNA or perhaps there was no match between SM and Rachel, since that would have been tested for sure by now?? Perhaps that would lead to the experts focusing on a widening search of familial networks?? I thought a massive public interest would at least prompt some information being relayed by now. Fingers crossed.

I think the lack of anything from Prof Abbott is quite telling. He’s been quite public and vocal for decades that SM was robin’s father, and hence his wife’s grandfather.

 

[Melt71]

Perhaps they're trying to keep information confidential? It's a pretty high profile case, maybe they don't want information being leaked or such. I can think of a few cases where they were quiet about the genealogy research they were doing (Sherri Jarvis, Evelyn Colon, Gordie Sanderson)...

I imagine so. Australian LE doesn’t have the tradition of releasing blow by blow steps towards case solves as we often see in the US.

 

[kadman]

Perhaps they're trying to keep information confidential? It's a pretty high profile case, maybe they don't want information being leaked or such. .....

There has been information released about DNA results as I've already mentioned in links I've previously posted. Information has been skewed, omitted and fabricated in this case from the beginning.

 

[Melt71]

There has been information released about DNA results as I've already mentioned in links I've previously posted. Information has been skewed, omitted and fabricated in this case from the beginning.

LE have released very little on the current activities/research. It’s come from other sources and it’s not possible to verify some things without official confirmation.

 

[kadman]

I don't think we'll ever know who TSM is. Not unless someone comes out and finally admits his connection to certain official agencies, which is unlikely, but you never know.

 

[petebowes]

Kemug, I don’t think the people responsible for hiding his identity were responsible for his death. But then again, I’ll probably change my mind about that before long. The only way through is to question everything, even yourself.