The big question is not so much who he was but what he was and does his identity explain the strange clues left behind? This Q&A archive covers some the essential facts.
Part 1: The Discovery & The Body
1. When exactly was the Somerton Man found?
He was found at approximately 6:30 AM on December 1, 1948.
2. Who discovered the body?
Two jockeys out esercing their horses first saw him at around 6.30 am on 1st December and Mr Lyons, who had seen him the previous evening came across to the scene after finishing his early morning swim. Mr Lyons called the Police.
3. Where specifically on Somerton Beach was he located?
He was resting with his head and shoulders against the low sea wall near some steps opposite the crippled children's home (now a remedial center) at Somerton Park, South Australia.
4. Was he seen alive before he was found dead?
Yes. On the evening of November 30, a couple (John Bain Lyons and his wife) saw him raising an arm and making a circular motion. At 7.30 pm in fading light, another, younger couple saw a man lying in the same spot,
5. What position was the body found in?
He was lying on his back with his head and shoulders resting against the low sea wall, legs crossed, and feet pointing toward the sea.
6. Was there any sign of a struggle or violence at the scene?
No. According to a Police Constable who inspected the body and the scene, the sand was not unduly undisturbed, and there were no signs of a struggle..
7. What was the weather like on the night he died?
It was a warm evening, but the night turned cool.
8. What was the estimated time of death?
Medical examiners disagreed about that but it was estimated he died between 10 pm on the 30th November and 2:00 AM on December 1, 1948.
9. Did anyone see his face while he was alive on the beach?
Not clearly.
The witnesses saw him from a distance or in low light so there was no clear identification.
10. Did the witnesses think he was sleeping or dead?
They assumed he was sleeping or sleeping off a drinking session.
11. Why did the witnesses not call the police immediately?
It wasn't uncommon for people to sleep on the beach, and since he moved slightly (or they thought he did), they saw no cause for alarm.
12. Was the body moved after death but before police arrived?
There is no physical evidence he was moved, though it has been suggested that he died elsewhere and was placed there overnight as was alluded to in the Coroner's inquest in the 1949 Inquest.
13. What was the man wearing when he was found?
A white shirt, a red/white/blue striped tie, brown trousers, a brown double breasted coat, woolen socks, 'stockman's' shoes, and a brown knitted pullover.
14. Was he dressed appropriately for the weather?
No. He was overdressed for a warm Australian summer evening.
15. What physical description (height, weight, age) was given?
He was 5'11" (180 cm), had grey eyes, fair-to-ginger hair, and was estimated to be 40–45 years old.
16. Did he have any distinguishing scars or tattoos?
He had three small scars on his left wrist, one on his left elbow, and what may have been a faded vaccination mark on his upper left arm, and scratches between the knuckles of his hand..
17. What was unusual about his feet and toes?
His toes were wedged into a point (suggesting he wore pointed shoes or boots often) and he had high calf muscles, consistent with a dancer, cyclist or runner.
18. What was the condition of his teeth?
He lacked 18 teeth from his upper jaw, and those remaining were not in great condition, though there were no identifying dental records found, no sign of his having worn dentures
19. Did he have any identification on him?
None. No wallet, no ID card, no watch, no ring and no name tags.
20. Why was he called the "Somerton Man"?
Simply because he was found on Somerton Beach. He was also known as the "Unknown Man." as per the book written by ex Detective Sergeant Gerald Feltus who had a vast knowledge of the case.
Part 2: The Pockets & Personal Effects
21. What items were found in his pockets?
An unused train ticket, a used bus ticket, two aluminium combs, chewing gum, cigarettes, and matches.
22. What brand of cigarettes was he carrying?
He had a packet of Army Club cigarettes, but inside were 7 more expensive Kensitas cigarettes.
23. Was there a lighter or matches found? A box of Bryant & May matches was found with the body and a lighter, Green & CO, was found in a suitcase later found at Adelaide Railway Station.
24. What kind of chewing gum was found on him?
A packet of Juicy Fruit gum which was commonly available in Australia at the time.
25. Was there a wallet or cash found?
No wallet, no ration book, and no cash were found on the body.
26. Were there any keys found on the body?
No keys were found.
27. What was missing from his clothing that was strange? All the name labels / maker's tags had been carefully cut off with the eception of the name T Keane found on his tie, laundry bag and vest with slightly different spellings of Keane.
28. Why were the labels removed from his clothes?
This is a common tactic to prevent tracing a purchased item to a specific store or person, often associated with espionage or perhaps privacy.
29. Was he wearing a hat?
No, which was unusual for a well-dressed man in 1948.
30. What was the significance of the bus ticket found in his pocket?
It was for a bus to North Glenelg (near Somerton), suggesting he took the bus after arriving at the train station. the tisket was traced but the conductor who sold it had no recollection of who he sold it to.
31. What was the significance of the train ticket found in his pocket?
It was an unpunched second-class ticket to Henley Beach.
32. Did the tickets indicate where he had come from?
They indicated he bought the train ticket but didn't use it, opting for the bus instead.
33. Was there a return ticket?
No.
34. What was the "Tamám Shud" slip of paper?
A tiny, rolled-up piece of paper found months later in a concealed, waistband fob pocket of his trousers. It had the words TAMAM SHUD printed on it and was later found to have come from a Collins dual edition version of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
35. Where exactly was the slip of paper hidden?
It was rolled up tightly and pushed down deep inside the fob pocket (a small watch or lose change pocket) of his trousers, which police missed in the initial search.
Part 3: The Suitcase
36. When was the brown suitcase discovered?
January 14, 1949.
37. Where was the suitcase found?
In the cloakroom of the Adelaide Railway Station.
38. How did police link the suitcase to the Somerton Man?
It was checked in on November 30 (the day before the body was found), and a spool of orange thread inside matched the thread used to repair the dead man's trousers. There are questions remaining about the suitcase
39. Was the suitcase locked?
No, it was unlocked.
40. What clothes were found inside the suitcase?
A dressing gown, slippers, underwear, pajamas, and a shirt-coat pus a strange assortment of tools and a lighter.
41. Were the labels removed from the clothes in the suitcase too?
Mostly, yes.
42. What name was found on some of the clothes?
The name "Keane" or "T. Keane" was found on a tie and a laundry bag and also on a vest
43. Who was "T. Keane" or "Keane"?
Police found no missing person named T. Keane. They concluded the tags were left on purpose as a red herring, or because the clothes were second-hand.
44. What stenciling tools were found in the case?
A stenciling brush and paints, typically used for marking cargo on merchant ships.
45. What kind of thread was found, and why was it important?
Barbour’s orange waxed thread.
The company who made the thread was originally from Northern Ireland but had factories in other coutries including Australia and it matched the repair on his pocket and coat collar
46. Was there a knife in the suitcase?
Yes, a table knife that had been filed down to a sharp point (a "shiv") with a tightly bound cloth sheath.
47. What specific type of scissors were found?
A small pair of scissors were found with a makers trademark stamped on them
48. Was there any dirty laundry in the case?
No, the clothes appeared clean.
49. Did the suitcase contain any identification documents?
None.
50. How long had the suitcase been sitting in the locker?
Since roughly 11:00 AM on November 30, 1948.
Part 4: The Rubaiyat, The Code, & The Note
51. What is the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam?
It is a famous book of 11th-century Persian poetry focusing on seizing the day and the finality of life.
52. How is the book connected to the body?
The scrap of paper reading "Tamám Shud" was torn from a page of a Collins dual edition copy of this book.
53. Where was the specific copy of the book found? A man found it in the back seat of his car at around the time of a local airshow on 20th November 1948 and which had been parked near Somerton Beach around the time of the death.
54. When was the book handed in to the police? July 1949, months after the body was found and as a result of the Police asking for assistance in locating the book
55. Was the book a rare edition?
It was a xommonly available Collins edition and NOT the less common edition (Whitcombe & Tombs), incorrectly identified by another resarcher
56. Does the torn "Tamám Shud" scrap match the book perfectly?
A microscopic analysis confirmed the type of paper but no comparison was done to the actual book as it had been mislaid some years ago.
57. What does "Tamám Shud" translate to? It is Persian for "It is ended" or "The End.", however that translation may be different because Omar Khayyam was brought up in Nashpur to the West of Persia and close to a border where regional dialects had a different meaning including 'Job done'
58. What was written on the back of the book?
Faint indentations of handwriting were found under UV light: a phone number and a series of what appeared to be handwritten letters (code). These have been identified here as an SOE cipher technique called INK H
59. What is the "Somerton Man Code"?
A series of 50 random capital letters that were possibly written in peancil which left the indentations
60. How many letters are in the code?
There are roughly 50 letters arranged in 5 lines (one line appears to be crossed out but because we are dealing with indentations it is not certain as the line may have been out in place before the letters.).
61. Has the code ever been cracked?
The INK H letters have been partially decoded with some names identified
62. Is it possible the code is just a doodle or memory aid?
No
63. What phone number was found on the book?
An unlisted phone number belonging to a nurse living just 400 meters from where the body was found.
64. Who did the phone number belong to?
Jessica Harkness (known in the investigation as "Jestyn").
65. Was there any microscopic writing found in the book?
Yes, there are numerous proven exmples of proven micro written letters and numbers
Part 5: The "Nurse" (Jestyn)
66. Who was "Jestyn"?
Jessica Harkness (later Jessica Thomson), a nurse who lived in Glenelg.
67. What was her real name?
Jessica Harkness.
68. Where did she live in relation to the body?
90A Moseley Street, Glenelg—about a 5-minute walk from where the body was found.
69. Did she admit to knowing the Somerton Man?
No. She denied knowing him, though she acted very strangely during an interview.
70. How did she react when shown the plaster cast of the dead man?
According to the detectives and Mr Paul Lawson, she looked about to faint and refused to look at the cast a second time.
71. Did she own a copy of the Rubaiyat? Yes. She admitted to giving a copy of the Rubaiyat to a man named Alf Boxall in Sydney in August 1945.
72. Who is Alf Boxall?
An Army lieutenant whom police initially thought was the dead man, until they found Alf Boxall alive in Sydney. Mr Boxall later admitted to having been in Army Intelligence
73. What is the connection between Jestyn and Alf Boxall?
They met in Sydney during the war. She signed his book "JESTYN.". There is evdience that she also had an intelligence background
74. Did Jestyn have children?
Yes, a son named Robin Thomson and a daughter.
75. Why was her son, Robin Thomson, important to the investigation?
Robin was said to havehad rare genetic traits shared by the Somerton Man, this has been disproven
76. Did Robin share physical traits with the Somerton Man? No: Robin had missing incisors (hypodontia) while the Somerton Man had totally missing teeth. Robis ear shape was later shown to be a family trait.
77. Did Jestyn work as a spy?
There is no official record, but she spoke Russian and had communist sympathies, and there were concealed codes and ciphers found in the book she handed to Alf Boxall
78. Why was her identity protected for so long?
Police promised her anonymity because she was married and the connection to the dead man was potentially scandalous.
79. Did the Somerton Man visit her house before he died?
It is thought he visited her, or intended to, given his proximity to her home.
80. Is Jestyn still alive?
No, she died in 2007.
Part 6: The Autopsy & Investigation
81. What was the official cause of death?
Heart failure, possibly induced by poisoning.
82. Was poison suspected?
Yes, heavily suspected due to the congestion of organs and lack of other causes.
83. What poisons were tested for?
Common poisons like arsenic and strychnine. No matches were found.
84. What condition were his internal organs in?
His spleen was enlarged, and his liver and stomach were congested with blood. anomalies in the vessels in his brain were alos detected
85. What was found in his stomach? Blood and the remains of what was thought to be potato eaten 3–4 hours before death.
86. Could the poison have been untraceable? Yes. Digitalis and certain barbiturates break down quickly and were hard to detect in 1948.
87. Was it suicide or murder?
The coroner could not determine if it was suicide or murder.
88. What did the coroner say about his death?
"
I am unable to say who the deceased is... or how he came by his death."
89. Why was a plaster cast (death mask) made?
Because the body, already embalmed, was unclaimed and decomposing, police needed a permanent record of his face for future identification.
90. Where was the Somerton Man buried?
West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide.
91. Why were flowers seemingly left on his grave for years?
There were reports of a woman leaving flowers, but her identity was never confirmed.
92. Did the FBI or Scotland Yard help?
Yes, fingerprints were sent to both agencies, but no matches were found in their databases.
93. What happened to the original evidence over the years?
Much of it (the suitcase, the clothes) was destroyed in the 1980s as "clutter," hindering modern testing. In recent time both the Boxall copy of the Rubaiyat and the torn slip have been 'mislaid' according to Police
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