The Body on Somerton Beach

In December 1948, a mystery began to unfold on Somerton Beach in Adelaide, Australia, when the lifeless body of a man was discovered. Dressed impeccably in a suit with polished shoes, the man was found slumped against a seawall, exuding an air of somber mystery. Initial assumptions pointed towards heart failure or possibly poisoning as the cause of death. However, the autopsy revealed no traces of poison, deepening the enigma.

The absence of a wallet or any form of identification, coupled with the curious detail that all the tags had been meticulously removed from his clothing, baffled the authorities. Even the man’s fingerprints led nowhere, failing to match any records. In a desperate bid to identify him, the police published a photograph of the deceased in the newspapers, yet no one came forward with any information.

Four months later, a significant discovery was made. A hidden pocket, expertly sewn inside the man’s trousers, was found to contain a small, rolled-up piece of paper. This paper bore the words “Tamám Shud,” a Persian phrase meaning “it has ended,” and was identified as being torn from a rare book called the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam. Despite extensive efforts, the authorities could not locate the exact copy of the book, leaving them with no choice but to bury the Somerton Man without identifying him. To preserve any future identification efforts, a cast of his bust was made, and he was embalmed.

Eight months after the body was discovered, a new lead emerged. A man walked into the police station, claiming to have found a copy of the Rubáiyát in the back of his car, which he had parked near Somerton Beach shortly after the body was found. He had initially thought nothing of it until he read about the search for the book in a newspaper article. Upon inspection, it was confirmed that the final page of the book had been torn, matching the piece found on the Somerton Man.

Further intrigue arose from the contents of the book. Inside, there was a phone number and a peculiar code. The phone number led the authorities to a woman named Jessica Thompson, who lived nearby. During her interview, she exhibited an unusual level of evasiveness and claimed to feel faint upon seeing the bust of the Somerton Man, although she denied knowing him. She did, however, mention having sold a copy of the Rubáiyát to a man named Alfred Boxall. This lead quickly turned cold when it was discovered that Alfred Boxall was very much alive and still possessed the copy of the Rubáiyát that Jessica had sold him.

The cryptic code found in the book provided no further clarity. Despite numerous attempts to decipher it, the code remained unbroken, adding another layer to the puzzle. As of today, the identity of the Somerton Man and the circumstances surrounding his death remain one of Australia’s most perplexing unsolved mysteries. The story of the Somerton Man continues to intrigue and mystify, capturing the imagination of many who ponder over the cryptic clues left behind.

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