Mystery remains of ‘Somerton man’ whose body was found on Adelaide beach to be exhumed

The remains of the so-called Somerton man will be exhumed at an Adelaide cemetery in a bid to solve the more than 70-year mystery over his death and his identity.

On December 1, 1948, the man’s body was found on Somerton Beach with the circumstances of his death remaining an open police investigation.

The case is in the hands of the Major Crime Investigation Branch, with detectives to be on hand when his body is exhumed at the West Terrace Cemetery on Wednesday morning.

The Somerton man’s body was first found by passers-by who noticed him slumped against a seawall.

The man’s body (pictured) was found on December 1, 1948, on Somerton Beach with the circumstances of his death remaining a mystery

A mysterious note found in his pocket is believed to be a code (pictured) and was found alongside a scrap of paper with Persian writing – with the words translating as ‘it is finished’

His cause of death remains unknown and many theories have been advanced over his identity, ranging from a jilted lover to a Cold War spy.

An initial police investigation and coronial inquest left the matter unresolved with the case particularly mystifying because of a number of items found with the body.

They included a suitcase, items of clothing with the tags removed, incoherent writing believed to be a code, the poetry book The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and a torn scrap of paper with the Persian words ‘Tamam Shud’, meaning ‘it is finished’.

‘Following recovery of the remains, Forensic Science SA will attempt to recover a DNA profile from the man,’ Detective Superintendent Des Bray said.

His cause of death remains unknown and many theories have been advanced over his identity, ranging from a jilted lover to a Cold War spy (pictured, his body)

Forensic Science SA’s assistant direction Anne Coxon said the technology available today was clearly light years ahead of the techniques available when the body was discovered in the late 1940s.

‘Tests of this nature are often highly complex and will take time,’ she said.

‘However we will be using every method at our disposal to try and bring closure to this enduring mystery.’

Attorney-General Vickie Chapman, who gave permission for the exhumation, said she believed the Forensic Science SA team was well equipped to handle the challenging task.

South Australia Police are now exhuming the body from a graveyard (pictured on Wednesday morning) to run DNA tests

‘For more than 70 years people have speculated who this man was and how he died,’ Ms Chapman said.

‘It’s an enduring mystery but I believe that, finally, we may uncover some answers.’

The case is part of Operation Persevere which seeks to put a name to all unidentified human remains in South Australia.

It runs in tandem with Operation Persist, under which cold case homicides are actively investigated.