The Tamam Shud Case: The Mystery of Australia's Somerton Beach's Unidentified Body

Every second, two or three people die in the world. Some leave this world surrounded by loved ones or in hospital, some die in wars, disasters or at the hands of murderers. Some find eternal peace in a cemetery next to their loved ones, others disappear without a trace. And there are cases when neither the identity of the deceased nor the circumstances of his death can be determined for decades. This is exactly the case with the story of "Taman Shud" or the mysterious Somerton Man.

On December 1, 1948, John Lyons, a resident of the Australian city of Adelaide, was walking along Somerton Beach. He noticed the body of a man in an expensive suit and tie lying on the shore. The stranger was red-haired, with a slight graying at the temples, and about 180 centimeters tall. John immediately realized that the man was dead. The fact is that he had seen him the day before in the same place and in the same pose.

On the first day, the man did not arouse any suspicions in Lyons. He was sitting with his back against the stone parapet, as if relaxing and admiring the ocean. But on the second day, there were no more doubts - John called the police. Forensic experts examined the body and the surrounding area, but found nothing remarkable. They also found no obvious cause of death.

The body was taken to the local hospital morgue for examination. Experts determined that death occurred at approximately 2 a.m. on December 1. The man was about 45 years old and in excellent physical condition. No scars, marks or other abnormalities were found on his body. The only oddity was the deformed wedge-shaped toes, a consequence of wearing shoes with narrow toes for a long time. But the shoes the man was wearing were ordinary, wide ones.

The autopsy failed to reveal the cause of death. A large amount of blood was found in the stomach, which could indicate poisoning, but tests showed no poisons or other substances in the body. Forensic experts learned a lot of interesting things while studying the man's clothes. His expensive formal suit had no labels. There were no tags on his shirt, tie, or even underwear. Someone had carefully cut them off.

The stranger's pockets contained an unused train ticket to Henley Beach, a bus ticket to Glenelg, a box of matches, a comb, chewing gum and a pack of Army Club cigarettes, which for some reason contained Kensitas cigarettes, the more expensive ones. All the items had fingerprints of the deceased on them. Photographs of the man were sent to all Australian newspapers, but this did not bring any results. The identity of the stranger remains unknown.

A month and a half later, a suitcase was found in a left luggage office at Adelaide railway station. After examining it, police suspected that it belonged to the Somerton Beach man. It had been deposited on the afternoon of 30 November 1948. Inside, in addition to several items of clothing, were a knife with a sharpened tip, a screen-printing brush and scissors with sharpened ends.

But the main attention was drawn to the spool of orange thread. It was with this thread that the torn pocket of the unidentified body's trousers was carefully sewn up. Of particular interest was the coat from the suitcase. It was of high quality and, judging by the patches from the dry cleaner, was most likely brought from the USA. The patches bore the name "T. Keane".

Investigators began to check this lead. They found the missing sailor Tom Keane's details in the police file. The police were already happy, deciding that the man's identity had been established. But Keane's acquaintances said that they did not know the guy from the beach. And this version turned out to be untenable.

More than a year after the body was discovered, in April 1949, Professor John Burton Cleland found a carefully concealed pocket in the dead man's trousers. It contained a small piece of paper with two words printed on it: Tamam Shud. The detectives turned to the city library for help with the translation. It turned out that the phrase was taken from the Rubaiyat, a collection of poems by the Persian poet Omar Khayyam.

"Tamam Shud" meant "completed", "finished". These words were at the very end of the book. The police began to search for a copy of the collection with the last page torn out or a missing fragment of text. Amazingly, the book was soon found! It was brought to the police by a doctor from Glenelg. He found the volume of Omar Khayyam in the back seat of his open car a couple of weeks before the stranger's death.

The book did indeed have a chunk of the last page missing. But that was not all. At the end of the collection, someone had written a cryptic code in pen and the phone number of a former Glenelg nurse. The woman said she did not know the deceased and asked that her identity be kept secret. So she appears in the case file under the fictitious name of Jestin.

The nurse said that this volume of Khayyam belonged to her until 1945. Later, she gave it as a keepsake to her friend, Lieutenant Alfred Boxall. But the body found could not have belonged to the officer - he was alive and well. The strangest thing was that Boxall kept the book he had given her. He showed it to investigators, and all the pages were in place. The investigation was at a dead end again.

On June 14, 1949, the body of an unidentified man was buried. Before that, the police made a cast of his head and shoulders. Many years later, flowers began appearing on the grave in West Terrace Cemetery. The police set up surveillance and soon arrested a woman with another bouquet. But she said that she simply brought flowers to abandoned graves and did not know who was buried there.

For nearly 60 years, cryptographers from all over the world tried to crack the code on the book page. Many versions were proposed, but none helped to establish the identity of the Somerton Beach man. The case was considered one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century. Some suggested that he was a Soviet spy, which is why his identity was never discovered. Others linked him to the mafia. There were also conspiracy theories - the boldest claimed that the man was a time traveller.

The man's photographs and fingerprints were given to the police and intelligence services of many countries. British detectives from Scotland Yard even came to Australia, as it was initially assumed that the deceased was English. But no one in the world could determine the identity of the mysterious stranger.

In 2011, scientists from the University of Adelaide received permission to analyze the DNA of the man from the beach. A few hairs were preserved on plaster casts of the head. After receiving the genetic material, it took more than 10 years to find matches. By March 2022, enthusiasts had compiled a huge family tree, including more than 4,000 people.

Eventually, scientists managed to find the deceased man’s second cousin and take a DNA sample from him. This allowed them to establish the name of the unidentified man – his name was Charles Webb. He was born in 1905 in Australia, in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, and was one of five children in a large family. Charles married Dorothy Robertson and worked as an instrument engineer. Professor Abbott from the University of Adelaide suggested how Webb, a resident of Melbourne, ended up in Adelaide:

The professor also offered an explanation for the mysterious entries in the book. He found out that Charles Webb was a gambler and was fond of horse racing. The code probably represented entries related to bets. As for the collection of poems itself, this was also explained. Webb's descendants said that he was a fan of poetry and even wrote his own poems.

Despite this breakthrough, it is still unknown how Charles Webb ended up on a deserted beach or why he died. Was it suicide, prompted by separation from his beloved wife? Or an accident? Perhaps he was murdered? Now that his identity has been established, police are reopening the 70-year-old case. Perhaps they will be able to bring it to an end.

The case of the Somerton Beach Man is not unique. In 1970, a burned female body was found in the Isdal Valley in Norway and remains unidentified to this day.

The case of the "Somerton Beach Man" has captivated investigators, scientists and enthusiasts for decades. Although his identity has been established, many questions remain unanswered. Was he the victim of murder, an accident or did he decide to take his own life? Or is there a clue hidden in details that have remained unnoticed until now? Do you think the police will be able to finally solve this mystery after all these years? Share your thoughts in the comments!