Tag: Alan H

  Aaaah, the code. Watch how we decode it! (#4)

This site takes a look at a few of the goings on around Somerton Beach and Glenelg Beach near Adelaide in South Australia between the 1930’s and afterwards. Things may have even kicked off before the 1920’s and lingered till the present day.

And could other cases, seemingly unrelated, be tied back to the circumstances here? Things like the abduction of “The Beaumont Children” or perhaps medical experimentation, or overseas cases of a similar nature. Was the 1981 death of a SAPOL Detective (Geoffrey Whitford) part of the lingering saga?

Time is on our side to get the full story and the actual truth, not just the truth of public opinion.

The primary starting point of our inquiries will be about two male bodies found on Somerton Beach and Semaphore Beach on the first few days of December 1948.

The first body I discuss was located against the sea wall and had not been in the water. He has become known as “The Somerton Man”. Much has been discussed about the circumstances of his death, both in Australia and Internationally. The Coroner surmised that poison was the most likely cause of his demise but no trace was found in his remains. His identity had also evaded a conclusion in the 75 or so years that have passed since.

However, in late 2021 and into 2022 the person found on December 1st was provisionally identified by private DNA related searches as Carl Webb, but he preferred Charles (or Charlie) we’re told. Hairs from a plaster bust held by SAPOL provided some hair samples.

The South Australian Police (SAPOL) are yet to confirm any details resulting from the exhumation and subsequent DNA analysis.

Was he an acquaintance of Jessica Ellen Thomson? Was he a spy?

It is hoped that the 2021 exhumation of his remains, and the vast improvements in DNA research since 1948, will reveal what has so far evaded everyone.

The second body was found amongst the seaweed near the high water mark in the nearby suburb of Semaphore. He was to be later identified using only the vast amount of paperwork bearing his name strategically placed in his overall pockets. Alexander Arthur Dowling was the name assigned to this body. He had been in the water for some time and had been visited by some of the denizens of the deep.

Or, was the first body (found against the seawall) retrieved from West Terrace Mortuary soon after arrival, and launched into the water to re-appear at Semaphore 3 days later with a new identity?

Do two bodies become just a repurposed single body?

Whilst our early sleuthing centres around the saga of “The Somerton Man” initially, it may not remain exclusive to him. It can take something as simple as a misplaced word in a newspaper advertisement to take you to a completely different place and time.

From time to time it may wander overseas when the saga takes us there.

We do give it our best endeavours to use as many resources as we can to verify the details when we post. This has been the environment the amateur investigator has found existed since they took up sleuthing.