Australia's 74-Year Mystery: Somerton Man Finally Identified

In July 2022, researchers announced the identity of a man who had puzzled Australian investigators for nearly three-quarters of a century. Carl Webb, born in 1905, was the person found dead at Somerton Beach in Adelaide in 1948—the body that would become known as one of Australia's most perplexing cold cases.

The breakthrough came through collaboration between Derek Abbott of the University of Adelaide and Colleen Fitzpatrick of Identifinders International, who employed cutting-edge DNA technology to crack the case. Their work centered on an unlikely piece of evidence: a single 5 cm rootless hair strand extracted from the body and analyzed at Astrea Forensics.

## The Discovery

When Webb's body was first discovered, it presented an unusual scene. He was found leaning against a seawall, dressed formally in a suit and tie with a half-smoked cigarette resting on his collar. Despite his proper appearance, the body yielded no identification. More notably, someone had deliberately cut out all the clothing tags, suggesting an attempt to conceal his identity.

Webb was carrying a suitcase containing items labeled "Keen," a detail that added to the mystery surrounding his death. For decades, this lack of identifying information—combined with no fingerprint matches in any database—left investigators at a standstill.

## The Medical Picture

Autopsies revealed that Webb had died of heart failure caused by poisoning. His body also showed signs of internal bleeding and an enlarged spleen. These findings suggested that his death may not have been accidental, though the exact circumstances surrounding the poisoning remained unclear.