Tamam Shud Case (Somerton Man)
A dead man on a beach. No identification. A scrap of paper reading 'Tamam Shud' (it is ended). A suitcase with labels removed. A code that's never been broken. After 75 years, we finally know his name—but not who killed him.
The Tamam Shud case is one of Australia’s most enduring mysteries—an unidentified man found dead on a beach with a hidden code that has never been deciphered. In 2022, his identity was finally revealed.
The Discovery
According to documented records:
On December 1, 1948, a well-dressed man was found dead on Somerton Beach, Adelaide. He had no identification, all clothing labels had been removed, no cause of death could be determined, and a small scrap of paper reading “Tamam Shud” was hidden in his clothing.
”Tamam Shud”
The phrase means “It is ended” or “finished” in Persian. It came from the final page of “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,” and the book from which it was torn was later found.
The Book
A copy of The Rubaiyat was found in a car near the beach. The final page had been torn out (matching the scrap), on the back cover was a handwritten code that has never been deciphered, and a phone number led to a woman who denied knowledge.
The Code
The mysterious text:
WRGOABABD
MLIAOI
WTBIMPANETP
MLIABOAIAQC
ITTMTSAMSTGABCryptographers have failed to crack it. It may be a cipher, a mnemonic, or random letters, and attempts continue to this day.
The Woman
A phone number in the book led to a woman named Jessica Thomson (identified later). She denied knowing the dead man, her reaction suggested otherwise, her son resembled the dead man, and she refused to discuss the case until her death.
The Investigation
Police found a suitcase at Adelaide railway station. Labels had been removed from all items, American-made clothing was unusual in Australia, and nothing identified him.
Theories
Spy: Cold War espionage—the removed labels and code suggest tradecraft.
Suicide: Poison, though none was found.
Murder: Killed by an unknown party.
Romantic Entanglement: Connected to Jessica Thomson somehow.
The 2022 Identification
In 2022, DNA analysis revealed his name was Carl “Charles” Webb, an electrical engineer from Melbourne, born in 1905, though why he was on that beach, unidentified, with a code, remains unknown.
What’s Still Unknown
Even with a name, many questions remain: Why was he there? What do the codes mean? What’s his connection to Jessica Thomson? Was it murder or suicide? Why remove all identifying labels?