The Somerton Man (Tamám Shud Case)

On December 1, 1948, the body of an unidentified man was found on Somerton Beach in Adelaide, Australia. All labels had been removed from his clothes. His dental records matched no one. A scrap of paper in his pocket contained the Persian words “Tamám Shud” - meaning “It is ended.” A coded message was found in a book linked to the case. Despite 75 years of investigation and modern DNA analysis, the Somerton Man remained unidentified until 2022, and even now, how and why he died remains a mystery.

The Discovery

December 1, 1948

At approximately 6:30 AM:

• A man’s body was found on Somerton Beach
• Propped against a seawall
• Well-dressed in a suit
• No identification
• Appeared to be sleeping

The Body

The man was:

• Approximately 40-45 years old
• 5’11” tall
• Athletic build
• Well-groomed
• Wearing quality clothing

The Position

He was found:

• Sitting against the seawall
• Legs extended
• A half-smoked cigarette on his collar
• As if he’d fallen asleep
• No obvious cause of death

The Investigation

No Identification

Immediately strange:

• All clothing labels had been removed
• No wallet or identification
• No one reported him missing
• Fingerprints matched no records
• Dental records matched no one

The Autopsy

The examination revealed:

• No clear cause of death
• Enlarged spleen and liver
• Congestion in the brain
• Possible poisoning suspected
• No poison was identified
• The cause of death remains “unknown”

The Suitcase

At Adelaide Railway Station:

• A suitcase was found
• Linked to the man
• Also had labels removed
• Contained clothes with labels removed
• A few personal items
• No identification

Tamám Shud

The Discovery

In a hidden pocket:

• A small rolled piece of paper
• Torn from a book
• Containing two words in Persian
• “Tamám Shud”
• Meaning “It is ended” or “The End”

The Source

The paper was torn from:

• A copy of “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”
• A collection of Persian poetry
• The phrase ends the collection
• A fitting, ominous message

The Book

Eventually found:

• In a car near the beach
• A man found it in his backseat
• The torn corner matched perfectly
• In the back was a coded message
• And a phone number

The Code

The Message

In the back of the book:

• Five lines of letters
• Apparently a code
• Never definitively cracked:

WRGOABABD
MLIAOI
WTBIMPANETP
MLIABOAIAQC
ITTMTSAMSTGAB

Attempts to Decode

Over the decades:

• Cryptographers have tried
• Various theories proposed
• No solution accepted
• It may be a simple first-letter code
• It may be meaningless
• It may be unbreakable

The Phone Number

The Lead

Written in the book:

• A local phone number
• Traced to a woman
• Jessica Thomson (name pseudonym)
• She lived near Somerton Beach

The Woman

When questioned:

• She denied knowing the man
• But seemed distressed
• She recognized the death mask (reportedly)
• She may have been lying
• Her connection was never proven

Her Son

Robin Thomson:

• Had the same rare ear condition as the Somerton Man
• Same rare dental characteristics
• Possibly the man’s son?
• Jessica took secrets to her grave
• She died in 2007

The Identification

2022 Breakthrough

After decades of work:

• Professor Derek Abbott pursued the case
• DNA genealogy techniques were applied
• A probable identification was made
• Carl “Charles” Webb
• An electrical engineer from Melbourne

Who Was Carl Webb?

The identified man:

• Born 1905 in Victoria
• Worked as an electrical instrument maker
• Married (separated from his wife)
• Had connections to the area
• But many questions remain

Not Fully Solved

Even with identification:

• How did he die?
• Why was he there?
• What’s with the code?
• Why the mystery?
• The case isn’t truly closed

Theories

Spy/Intelligence Agent

The Theory

• Cold War era
• The removed labels suggest tradecraft
• The code could be intelligence-related
• Poisoning suggests assassination
• He was a spy who was killed

Support

• The era was full of espionage
• His appearance was professional
• The elaborate mystery suggests something serious

Suicide

The Theory

• He removed his own labels
• “Tamám Shud” was his final message
• He took undetectable poison
• He chose that beach to die

Problems

• Why the elaborate mystery?
• Why the code?
• The connection to Jessica Thomson

Murder

The Theory

• Someone killed him
• Removed identifying information
• Left “Tamám Shud” as a signature
• A crime of passion or conspiracy

Something Else Entirely

The Theory

• A story we can’t understand
• Connections we can’t see
• A personal mystery
• Not meant for us to solve

The Legacy

Cultural Impact

The case has become:

• One of Australia’s greatest mysteries
• Subject of books and documentaries
• A cold case that never went away
• An enduring puzzle

The Statue

A bust was created:

• From the plaster death mask
• Now at Adelaide University
• A memorial to the unknown man

Ongoing Interest

Even after identification:

• People still investigate
• The code remains unsolved
• The full story is unknown
• The mystery persists

The Question

A man died on a beach in Australia in 1948.

He had no name. No labels in his clothes. No identification of any kind.

In his pocket, two words: “It is ended.”

A coded message no one can read. A phone number leading to a woman who wouldn’t talk. A son who looked just like him.

For 75 years, he was known only as the Somerton Man. Now we think we know his name: Carl Webb.

But knowing his name doesn’t tell us:

• Why he died
• How he died
• Why he was there
• What the code means
• Why he erased his identity

A name is just the beginning.

The Somerton Man case. The mystery that named itself.

“Tamám Shud” - It is ended.

But it isn’t.

Not really.

Not until we understand what happened on that beach.

And we may never understand.

Some mysteries end with a name.

This one just begins there.