Latest news with #unidentified
The Sun
6 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Mystery of ‘Man in £100 Walking Boots' whose identity STILL unknown 18 months after dogwalker found his body on UK beach
A MYSTERY man wearing "£100 walking boots" washed ashore 18 months ago - but his identity is still unknown. A dog walker made the grim discovery on a beach near a caravan park on the Gower Peninsula in Wales in December 2023. 2 Cops have still not been able to identify the body despite trawling through DNA archives, dental records and missing person reports. The man was wearing distinctive size nine Magnus walking boots, a black leather belt and black socks. Police have been able to determine he was a white man, and stood around six feet tall. An inquest has been set for the John Doe in November this year. A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "On December 16, 2023, South Wales Police received a report of man's body having been washed up in the shore in the Gower area of Swansea, between Slade Bay and Green Meadow Leisure Park. "Since that time, officers have been unable to identify him. "The man had a black leather belt on and a pair of black socks and size nine Magnum walking boots. "There are no other distinguishing marks to assist police with the identification of this man. "South Wales Police has worked with other forces within and outside of the UK and to date there has been no matches on the DNA obtained from the body. "The body has been described as a white man, six foot in height and with a shoulder width of 20 inches. "South Wales Police are appealing for any new information in relation to the identity of this man." 2
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Man's body identified 10 YEARS after being killed in a car crash just feet from his front door
A man who was mowed down by a car only a feet from his door has finally been identified after a decade of police trying to track down his true identity. Bryan Woolis died only a stone throw from his home in Walthamstow, London, after being mowed down by a Mercedes on January 22, 2015. However, there were no records of the man, who was also previously Brian Wallace, to be found in the wake of his death. And even though the driver was handed a suspended sentence following the incident, the case stayed open due to Mr Woolis never being formally identified. In January 2024, a newspaper launched an appeal from Locate International, a charity dedicated to finding the missing and naming the unidentified, in a bid to track down Brian. And this caught the eye of none other Inspector Nik Dodsworth, who became interested in finding Mr Woollis' identity after learning of the man's possible connections to Sheffield. 'They had two good quality photos of the victim, but despite this, he had still not been identified. I found that quite sad,' the South Yorkshire Police Inspector told the BBC. Trawling through old Met Police case files, the dedicated inspector, discovered a partial DNA match, which eventually, via the Police National Computer database, unearthed the man's true identity - Bryan Alwyn Woolis. Inspector Dodsworth went a step further, and managed to find down Mr Woolis' estranged family after he discovered his father, Alwyn Woolis' obituary online. The memorial indicated Mr Woolis senior passed away in Derbyshire in 2016, and was survived by three children, including Bryan. At the time of his death, Bryan had opted for a more tranquil life, and had not seen his sister since the 2000s after she had moved away from London to care for their father, according to the Inspector. Due to going long periods of time without speaking to family, Bryan was not registered as a missing person when he tragically died in 2015. 'Despite not being close, she [his sister] experienced grief at Bryan's death,' he said: 'She had heard a rumour that Bryan had died of natural causes but could not find anything to corroborate this.' Inspector Dodsworth explained that while many might find the occurrence of dying without an identity shocking, it is more common than people may believe. Now Locate International are trying to obtain a new headstone for Mr Woolis' with the correct iteration of his name. Adamant obtaining a new headstone for Mr Woolis 'had to happen', Inspector Dodworth revealed he experienced a 'sense of satisfaction' after getting to the root of the mystery. 'I am glad that they [the family] finally have some closure on this tragic incident and can begin to rebuild,' he said.
ABC News
12-05-2025
- ABC News
Identity of dead man found in Melbourne's north still a mystery after 30 years
Police are hoping for a breakthrough in a decades-old mystery that has left Homicide Squad detectives stumped. Victoria Police has released a new image of a man whose body was found in mysterious circumstances in Roxburgh Park, in Melbourne's north 30 years ago. The man was found lying in long grass in the North Point Busines Park, near the Cliffords Road side, on the morning of May 1, 1995. The man had been severely beaten and suffered a number of stab wounds to his upper body. He was found by two members of the public who then contacted police. The man is described as 25-35 years of age, Caucasian, 179cm tall with a solid build and medium length brown hair, slightly receding. Investigators said he had brown eyes and a scar under his right arm, and was found wearing a navy blue jumper, grey Nike T-shirt and shorts. Police conducted a number of appeals for information in the 90s, which led to a report of a possible sighting of the man in Sunbury, 17 kilometres away, on the evening before he was found. A person told police a man fitting the dead man's description had knocked on the door of a property in Sorbonne Drive, Sunbury about 6:40pm that evening. The resident of the house closed the door and contacted police, but when they returned to the front door the man was gone. The resident said the man had severe facial injuries and was bleeding from a head wound. Despite an extensive police investigation, the man has never been identified and those responsible for his death have never been found. Searches of his fingerprint and dental records have failed to find any match and police believe he has never been reported as missing. Detective Inspector Dean Thomas from the Homicide Squad said police are hoping the new image of the man will provide them with a new avenue of enquiry. "For the past 30 years, this man has only been known to us as 1238/95," he said. "We don't know his name, where he was from, who is family was, how he lived his life. "We also don't know how he came to be lying on that dirt road in Roxburgh Park and the circumstances that led up to his death." Police previously released computer-generated images of the man in 1995 and 1999, but advances in technology have allowed them to produce what they say is the most accurate image yet. "We are reasonably confident he is the same man that knocked on the door of the house in Sunbury, however the hours between then and him being found in Roxburgh Park remain a mystery," Inspector Thomas said. "Our priority is to identify him and determine whether he has a family out there who have been searching for answers for the past three decades. A $50,000 reward for information which was issued in 2000 is still active. Anyone with information is urged to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.
