1. The Somerton Man was an unidentified man whose body was found on 1 December 1948 on the beach at Somerton Park, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia.
21 Facts About Somerton Man
1. 2.
Somerton Man was lying back with his head resting against the seawall, with his legs extended and his feet crossed.
3.
Somerton Man was: 180 centimetres tall, with grey eyes, fair to ginger-coloured hair, slightly grey around the temples, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, hands and nails that showed no signs of manual labour, big and little toes that met in a wedge shape, like those of a dancer or someone who wore boots with pointed toes; and pronounced high calf muscles consistent with people who regularly wore boots or shoes with high heels or performed ballet.
4.
Somerton Man was dressed in a white shirt; a red, white and blue tie; brown trousers; socks and shoes; a brown knitted pullover and fashionable grey and brown double-breasted jacket of reportedly "American" tailoring.
5.
Somerton Man was clean-shaven and carried no identification, which led police to believe he had committed suicide.
6.
Somerton Man immediately checked his suitcase at the station cloak room before leaving the station and catching a city bus to Glenelg.
7.
Somerton Man noted that the man's shoes were remarkably clean and appeared to have been recently polished, rather than in the condition expected of a man who had apparently been wandering around Glenelg all day.
8.
Somerton Man stressed that this was purely speculation as all the witnesses believed it was, "definitely the same person", as the body was in the same place and lying in the same distinctive position.
9.
Somerton Man found no evidence indicating the identity of the deceased.
10.
Somerton Man then stated its absence was not unknown but that he could not make a "frank conclusion" without it.
11.
Somerton Man said that she had received a letter from Boxall and had replied, telling him that she was now married.
12.
Mangnoson believed that this situation could be related to her husband's attempt to identify the Somerton Man, believing him to be Carl Thompsen, who had worked with him in Renmark in 1939.
13.
Somerton Man recalled that he was English speaking and only carrying a small black case, not unlike one a musician or a doctor might carry.
14.
Somerton Man's investigations have led to questions concerning the assumptions police had made on the case.
15.
The family has a painting of the Somerton man hanging in their home, believing him to be family.
16.
In July 2013, Abbott released an artistic impression he commissioned of the Somerton man, believing this might finally lead to an identification.
17.
Somerton Man married Eliza Amelia Morris Grace in 1892.
18.
Somerton Man later said that the marriage was not a harmonious one, largely due to Webb's personality.
19.
Somerton Man described him as solitary, having few friends, living a quiet life and being in bed by 7pm each night, but moody, violent and threatening, especially when facing defeat even over relatively trivial matters.
20.
Somerton Man stated he was fond of poetry and wrote several poems of his own, "most of them on the subject of death, which he claims to be his greatest desire".
21.
Somerton Man applied for a divorce on 5 June 1951, citing desertion, resulting in a hearing on 29 October, and the divorce was granted in April 1952.