Terrifying & True | Solving the Mystery of ‘The Body on Somerton Beach'

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An apparent drunk is sleeping on the
beaches of Adelaide. However, a few

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hours later he hasn't moved. Could
he be asleep? Well, unfortunately he's

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dead and the question of who exactly
he is will be asked for multiple decades.

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This is that story tonight, what
you were about to be he's buried

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to be based on witness accounts,
testimonies and public record. This is terrifying

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and in our modern times it feels
like it's impossible to be unknown thanks to

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social media, cell phones, computer
databases, and security cameras on every street

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corner. How can anyone be anonymous? Truly? Well before the time of

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all those modern convenient and inconvenient elements, sometimes a person would drop dead and

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no one could figure out who they
were. But the real question about the

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body on Sumrton Beaches was he hiding
or was it just bad luck? This

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story, which unraveled over the course
of many decades, has grabbed interest all

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over the world, and we'll be
discussing that after these quick messages, So

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make sure you're subscribed. Under the
warm embrace of the Australian summer sun,

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the Golden se and of Summrton beach
cradled a secret in its gentle curve,

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a secret that was neither whispered by
the waves nor carried away by the wind.

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It was the morning of December first, nineteen forty eight, when the

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unspeakable silence was found, a body
of a man, dressed not for a

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swim, but in a crisp suit
and freshly shine shoes. The man's identity

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was an enigma, and his tail
was as morbid as it was mysterious.

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A noir that reality scripted on the
shores of Adelaide. It started pretty normally

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with a body found on Sumrton Beach, which isn't usually the hardest thing to

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figure out. It's often someone the
person knew, like a partner or an

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x. Crime usually follows a certain
order, and these days the police have

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clever tools like DNA tests to help
them solve almost anything. But this case

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in Adelaide, well, it was
like no other. We're talking about a

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time when the best you had was
a magnifying glass and your wits. We

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don't even know who the man was, let alone, who might have wanted

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him dead, or whether he took
his own life. This mystery has been

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one of the biggest who dunnits the
world has ever seen. But guess what

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this mystery finally got resolved after seventy
three years. Allow me to paint a

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picture for you of that peculiar day. It was November thirtieth, seven pm

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and the air was balmy, the
perfect kind of evening for a walk.

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John bain Lyons and his wife were
enjoying the beach not far from the city.

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As they strolled along, they spotted
a man all dressed up in a

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suit. Yeah, on the beach
of all places. He was lying there

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looking like he was trying trying to
grab something in the sky before his hands

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just plopped back down. Lions figured
the guy might have had one too many

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to drink. A bit later,
another couple passed by and saw the man

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lying there in his fancy clothes,
his shoes shining underneath the street lights.

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The man still hadn't moved, except
now one arm was out to the side

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in the sand. The couple thought
he must be in a deep sleep,

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considering he didn't seem to care about
the mosquitoes buzzing around his face. They

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made a joke about how he must
be out like a light, but didn't

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think much more of it. Only
the next day did everyone realize the man

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lying there wasn't sleeping off a big
night. He was dead, and nobody

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could figure out who he was or
what had happened to him. It was

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a riddle wrapped in a mystery,
right there on the quiet stretch of Sumrton

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Beach sh On that fateful morning,
the same John Lyons who had seen the

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seemingly intoxicated man on his evening walk, returned from a swim to find a

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group of individuals huddled at the sea
wall. His curiosity peaud, he approached

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to find the same man positioned exactly
like the evening, now cold to the

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touch, not a single mark of
violence marred his body, and a half

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smoked cigarette was perched on his collar, seemingly fallen out of his mouth.

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The dead man's body landed in Royal
Adelaide Hospital three hours later, where doctor

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John Barkley Bennett marked his time of
death as not before two am. Despite

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appearing to have fallen victim to heart
failure, Bennett suspected foul play, possibly

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poisoning. Upon examining the items from
the man's pockets, they found beach tickets,

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gum matches, two combs and a
surprisingly eclectic mix of Army Club and

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Cansita cigarettes. With no id,
money or wallet present, and with the

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labels on his clothes meticulously removed,
the task of identifying the man grew more

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challenging. A kind of orange thread
uncommon in those parts, was used to

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carefully repair a pocket in his trousers. By the next day, the coroners

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were ready for the autopsy, while
the police's attempts to identify the deceased had

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hit a dead end. The post
mortem, however, proved equally puzzling.

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The man's pupils were unusually small,
His mouth bore the telltale signs of a

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long, dribbled line of saliva,
likely unable to swallow internally. His spleen

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was abnormally large, thrice the regular
size, and his liver engorged with blood.

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An analysis of the stomach contents showed
his final meal a piece, accompanied

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by an excessive amount of blood.
The signs continued to point towards poisoning,

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but there was no evidence it was
from the food. Suddenly, the man's

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strange behavior on the beach didn't quite
align with his drunken stupor, but felt

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eerily like the slow, agonizing effect
of poison. Despite numerous tests, no

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toxins were uncovered in the man's system, leaving even the experts baffled. Other

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peculiarities came to light during the examination. The man, although in his late

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forties, possessed the high toned calf
muscles of a seasoned athlete. Even his

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toes had an unusual wedge like structure. The experts provided a hypothesis stating that

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the man might have been accustomed to
wearing high heeled, pointed shoes due to

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the peculiar shape of his feet,
and thus the baffling case of the unknown

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man on Somerton Beach grew deeper and
darker, much to the chagrin and bewilderment

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of those involved. But the story
doesn't end there. On January fourteenth,

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nineteen forty nine, the workers at
Adelaide train station uncovered a labelless brown suitcase

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that had been checked into the station's
cloak room after eleven a m. On

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November thirtieth, nineteen forty eight.
It was assumed that this suitcase belonged to

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the mystery man found lifeless on the
beach. What lies within a curious collection,

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indeed, a dressing gown, red
slippers, underclothes, and trousers with

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sand hidden in their cuffs. Among
the mundane tools of intrigue an electrician screwdriver,

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a table knife filed down to a
pointed end, scissors with sharpened edges,

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and a stenciling bush which hinted at
tales of the sea. But there

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was a clue that vibrant orange thread, foreign and unique against the Australian backdrop,

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the very same used in a hasty
repair on the trousers of the man

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from the beach, His clothes stripped
of identification save for fragments of a name

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t Keene, whisper secrets into the
void. The missing socks and absence of

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any letters amidst the mundane paint a
portrait of anonymity. The suitcase suggests a

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journey from America. Perhaps the bespoke
coat hints at travels or transactions with travelers.

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Our man, it appears, took
an overnight train to Adelaide, visiting

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the city baths, though no ticket
confirms this tale. With a ticket to

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Henley Beach untaken, he departs,
leaving only the suitcase checked into the cloakroom.

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As he steps into the un bound
for Glenelgg on a city bus.

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The police, puzzled by the case, decided it was time for fresh eyes.

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Thus they summoned John Cleland, a
respected professor of pathology from the University

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of Adelaide, to take a closer
look at the enigma. Four months after

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the body was found. In the
quiet of his investigation, Cleveland made a

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discovery so surprising it sent shivers down
everyone's spine. Hidden in the lining of

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the man's trousers was a secret pocket, a detail previously overlooked by all who

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examined the clothing. This wasn't an
ordinary pocket. It was so small and

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so well concealed that it seemed designed
to hold something precious and private. Within

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this hidden chamber, Cleveland found something
extraordinary. It was a tiny piece of

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paper, rolled up so tight it
was almost missed. But when it was

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carefully unfolded, the mystery deepened even
further. The paper bore two words to

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mom should printed in an elegant script. These words, meaning the end in

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Persian, added an eerie, almost
cinematic touch to an already baffling case.

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It was as if the dead man
had left behind a clue from a world

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beyond a final message that raised more
questions than answers. This story gets deeper

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and even more mysterious from here.
Skip ahead eight months. Out of the

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blue, a guy appears with a
book called Rabaiat. He came across it

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in his car, didn't know where
it came from, but noticed a page

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was torn out, the very page
that ends in the poignant phrase. In

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a curious twist, the book was
scribbled with what seemed like a secret code

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and had a phone number that led
to a nurse named Jesse Joe Thompson living

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close to where our mystery man was
found. When shown a cast of the

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man's face, Thompson looked so shocked
that she nearly passed out, but she

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claimed not to recognize him, and
the police didn't push her further. After

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that, clues began to dry up, the mystery deepens, and the case

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is far from being closed. Many
have tried to guess the identity of the

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man known as the Somerton Man and
how he met his untimely end. Some

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folks reckon he was a spy thrust
into the dangerous cat and mouse game of

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espionage during the Cold War. They
question whether he fell victim to a deadly

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checkmate that cost him his life.
Others whisper of a lurid love story gone

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wrong. Could this mystery man have
danced too close to the flames of passion

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leading to a tragic end. There
are even suggestions that he was taken out

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by an unseen hand using poison,
a type that is rare and impossible to

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detect. But the most poignant of
all theories is that the Somerton Man was

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caught in a love triangle, his
end marked with the cryptic note taman should

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a lover's final silent whisper. After
several years had passed, Professor Derrick Abbott

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from the University of Adelaide investigated further
by diving deep into the Thompson family's history.

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He found, however, that Joe
and her son Robin, had both

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passed away, Yet whispers of a
connection lingered, told through the tale of

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rare ear and tooth traits and the
calves of a dancer, traits they shared

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with the elusive Somerton Man. But
the plot took an unexpected turn when Fitzpatrick,

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a sleuth of genetics, declared that
the DNA tale told no ties between

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Robin Thompson and the Somerton Man,
and so the link vanished like smoke,

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along with the theory involving Abbot's wife, Rachel, who had stepped into the

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story as Robin Thompson's daughter during the
investigation. For nearly seven decades, the

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Summrton Man's story has stirred wild theories
and intense debates. Folks suspected he was

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a Russian spy based on the cryptic
code in his copy of the Rubiat and

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measures taken to conceal his identity,
Yet cryptographers warn it might not be a

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real code at all. Abbot,
for instance, thinks it could be the

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names of horses that Webb had bet
on. Then some speculate that he was

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a ballet dancer. They point to
the coroner's report about his unusually toned calf

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muscles similar to a woman's or a
dancer's, and a possible history of wearing

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high heels and pointed shoes. In
May of twenty twenty one, authorities decided

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to take a closer look and dug
up the Summerton Man's body for genetic examination.

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These new DNA findings, separate from
Abbot and Fitzpatrick's investigation, are exciting,

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but officials remain tight lipped until the
results are ready. Interestingly, the

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new DNA analysis disproved any genetic link
between Egan and Webb, conclusively ruling out

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Robin as Webb's son. Abbot still
doesn't give up the possibility of connections with

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Robin's mom, but concedes that it
might remain unknown. However, in a

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twist, the DNA findings did link
the Sumrton Man to Webb. Further archival

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digging by Abbot and Fitzpatrick revealed more
about Webb. Born to a German father

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and an Australian mother in a Melbourne
suburb on November sixteenth, nineteen oh five,

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Webb was their sixth child. Webb, an instrument maker, married Dorothy

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Jean Robertson, a foot specialist,
in nineteen forty one. This raises a

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very serious question, is the Sumrton
Man actually the real Carl Webb. The

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story spins further back to April of
nineteen forty seven, when Webb vanished from

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his wife's life. Fast forward a
few years past the mystery man's discovery on

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Summrton Beach and Dorothy, his wife, announces in the newspaper she's divorcing Webb

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because he left her. By that
time, Dorothy had moved closer to where

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the mystery began, placing them in
the same slice of Australia. Abbott thinks

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maybe Webb was trying to find his
wife when he ended up in Adelaide,

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but it's all guesswork, connecting dots
in a picture still unclear. Webb liked

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poetry and horse betting, living a
life that hinted at deeper stories. He

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had a sister Mayor married to a
Thomas Keene, possibly explaining the t Keen

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tag found with the Summerton Man.
Maybe the clothes looking American were just secondhand

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finds from a visiting soldier. Despite
efforts, no photo of Web's surfaces.

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Yet a picture of his brother offers
a surprising clue. Strikingly similar to our

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Summrton Man. This story leaves us
with many questions. Why did Webb come

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to that beach, how did he
die? Was it suicide, murder or

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something else? And what exactly is
his link to Thompson? If any,

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A mystery this profound can never truly
be solved, or maybe it really is

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just a matter of time. Terrifying
and true, as narrated by Enrique Kuto.

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It's executive produced by Rob Fields and
Mark Shields, produced by Daniel Wilder,

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with the original theme music by Ray
Maddis. If you have a story

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you'd like us to cover on the
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