Mystery 15 of 15
15. The Somerton Man May Have a Name, But His Death Is Still a Mystery
On December 1, 1948, the body of a well-dressed man was discovered on Somerton Beach near Adelaide, Australia.
He carried no identification.
Months later, investigators found a tiny scrap of paper hidden in a pocket of his clothing. It contained the Persian words Tamám Shud, generally translated as “finished” or “ended.” The paper had been torn from a copy of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.
Police eventually located a book believed to be connected to the scrap. Inside were a telephone number and several lines of letters that looked suspiciously like a code.
The unidentified dead man became one of Australia’s most famous mysteries. Theories ranged from suicide and poisoning to espionage connected with the early Cold War.
Then, in 2022, researchers using genetic genealogy announced that they had identified the man as Carl “Charles” Webb, an electrical engineer born in 1905. The identification was based on DNA recovered from hairs associated with the case, although Australian authorities had not formally verified that conclusion when it was announced.
Why It Is Still a Mystery
Giving the Somerton Man a probable name did not explain how he died.
The meaning of the mysterious letters remains uncertain. The significance of the torn Rubáiyát page is still debated. No definitive sequence of events explains why Webb apparently traveled to Adelaide or how he ended up dead on the beach.
It is a useful reminder that solving one part of a historical mystery can sometimes reveal just how many questions remain.
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