Somerton Man: One of Australia's most baffling cold cases could be a step closer to being solved

ThermalBen thats some good article i had not seen before.........this is very fascinating mystery.....wonder if the investigators will identify the somerton man.....
Have you heard the Casefile podcast?
http://casefilepodcast.com/case-02-the-somerton-man/

https://theunredacted.com/mystery-of-somerton-man-the-taman-shud-case/

"An intriguing additional possibility is that Somerton man fathered Thompson's young son Robin, who was 18 months old in 1948. Several investigators have pointed to a couple of unusual features of the man's ears, an enlarged upper cymba and a diagonal ear crease, clearly present in the morgue photos and drawings of his corpse. These features are present in only around 1% of the population and are also evident in Robin. Was Somerton man his father?

The main issue with this scenario is how and why Somerton man ended up dead. Although the pasty found in his stomach was dismissed at the time as the cause of the man's death, Nick Pelling on his blog ciphermysteries.com suggests the excessive sulphites used as preservatives in baked goods in 1948 may have caused an extreme allergic reaction.

This might initially seem far-fetched, but it was clear from the autopsy that Somerton man was probably recovering from a serious illness when he died. His enlarged spleen is unlikely to have suddenly occurred on the day and is more suggestive of him having recently suffered from something like mononucleosis or malaria.

Pelling theorises that in his already frail state our man became ill after consuming the pasty at Jessica Thompson's house, lay down to try and sleep it off and died. This scenario fits the autopsy evidence which noted the lividity at the back of the man's neck, something unlikely to have occurred if he died whilst sat propped against the seawall where he was found.

The evidence suggested Somerton man's body was placed on the beach after his death
The evidence suggested Somerton man's body was placed on the beach after his death
It's possible Thompson then persuaded a male friend to move the body onto the beach to make it look like he died there, presumably to save the embarrassment and difficulty of having to explain how a strange man was found dead in her house. A witness who came forward much later in the 1950s did indeed claim to see a man on the beach carrying another man over his shoulder at some point on the evening before Somerton man was found dead, so there is some corroborating evidence for the idea.

Whilst clearly speculation, the general scenario has some merit and cannot be discounted. The main objections are the lack of credible explanations for the book and code, and the inability to ever identify the dead man. If this was simply an innocuous domestic incident then why has Somerton man resisted identification for nearly 70 years?"

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/sa-weekend/secret-love-could-be...

"
If Abbott is right, Jo Thomson, who died in 2007, had an affair with the Somerton Man, resulting in a child, the ballet dancer Robin, who was Rachel’s father. Robin, who was born in 1947 and died in 2009, grew up with Jo, his biological mother, and knew his father as George, the man Jo married in 1950, three years after Robin was born. He was passed off as George’s child, but Abbott believes Robin’s real father was the Somerton Man. "

"
Adding weight to this theory are some very unusual physical characteristics the dead man shared with Robin Thomson, Rachel’s father. One is a dental anomaly of absent incisors, a rare genetic trait. The inquest into the death of Somerton Man recorded the incisors were missing with no gaps, meaning his canines grew next to his front teeth. In photographs of Robin, the same trait is visible.

There was another unusual anomaly involving the shape of his ears. Abbott confesses he stared at the photo of the dead man and thought there was something odd, although he could not say what. He showed the image to an anatomist and asked if he noticed anything. “He said ‘yes, these are very rare ears’. He said ‘your ears have two hollows and the upper is smaller than the lower, but in the Somerton Man they are the other way around – his ear has a very large upper hollow and a small bottom’.”

Abbott tracked down a photo of Robin and found his ears were the same, an unusual and accidental finding that convinced him he was on the right track. It firmed up his belief that the letters scrawled in the poetry book once thought to be a Communist cipher were incidental, and the scrap of paper with the words “Tamam Shud” – ‘finished’ – was best viewed as a sad lover’s note. "

John Eyre: you are far from the truth.

Peterb.......would you care to explain and contribute? Mysterious..........or you know something and won't share it........

Only too happy to share, John, you might like to have a squiz at tomsbytwo.com .... and ask Stunet if he still hasn't figured out the fiction.
Seriously though, the case was compromised and too much was unexplained. The research backs the claim.

YeAH PeterB....Thank you very much..... had a look at your link.........there's a lot of reading to do there..........when i pull up camp....at the end of the trail im on at moment........hopefully you will translate for me some of the writings on that link....and i can watch the attached YouTube clip......

Anytime John ... it's a grand puzzle, a jigsaw in fact.

PeterB...........Saw the trailer....and now want to watch the full film and read the book.....It has occured to me....You know more about Somerton Man?.......than anyone I've discussed it with.....
i got more to read yet.......many thanks for the link. ....... i had not found before even though have read all i could find about SM.....keen to know more.....and so will finish reading your links first...

The book is pure fiction, John, the website has distilled all the known facts ... more for my benefit than anyone else.

https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/who-is-the-somerton-man-the-clues...

JOHN Lyons and his wife were strolling along Somerton Beach in South Australia when they noticed a man lying slouched against the seawall at an uncomfortable angle. His body was flat, his head was propped up awkwardly on the concrete wall. Lyons was worried, only because the mosquitoes were out in force and the man didn’t seem to be reacting to them at all. He went over to check he was breathing, but as he approached the man raised his right arm. Lyons and his wife walked on.

John, that was in the evening. A dead body was found in the same place the following morning.

Otis Pearce ?

Zambezi .... I wish. He was close.

Peterb.....Why was Otis Pearce ruled out ?

Pearce was born in 1912, which made him 36 in 1948. The body was aged about mid-forties (they thought) ... Pearce was also described as a bubbly sort of fellow, lively and good humoured and extravagantly gay for the times. The son of wealthy Americans. Liked driving flash cars. Nevertheless the body was that of a ballet dancer. From his hair to his feet ... everything checked.

From what I've read, Otis Pearce toured Australia with the Ballets Russes'
in 1938/39. The tour ended in Adelaide. The troupe, including Pearce, then sailed from Australia to Los Angeles on the SS Monterey. He then
seemingly disappeared. Strange ?

I’ve sorted it .. the bloke was a car thief ... seriously. Tools in his bag and contacts in his pocket.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-24/mysterious-somerton-man-to-be-exh...