The Somerton Man Reexamined — DNA Breakthroughs and Modern Forensics

A Name After 76 Years

July 26, 2022. Professor Derek Abbott, a forensic researcher at the University of Adelaide, stood before the press and made an announcement that reverberated around the world.

"We have identified the Somerton Man. His name is Carl Webb."

Seventy-six years after an unknown man was found dead on Somerton Park beach in Adelaide, Australia, on December 1, 1948, the mystery finally had a name.

But the name did not close the case. It cracked open new questions.

The Power of Genetic Genealogy

The breakthrough began in 2021, when the Somerton Man's remains were exhumed from their grave in Adelaide's West Terrace Cemetery.

Abbott's team, working with American genetic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick, extracted DNA from hair samples on the body. Recovering usable genetic material from a 76-year-old corpse was an extraordinary technical challenge, but next-generation sequencing technology made it possible.

The DNA was compared against consumer genealogy databases using the same genetic genealogy methods that had identified the Golden State Killer. By working backward through distant relatives, the team narrowed in on a man named Carl Webb, born around 1905 in Melbourne, Victoria.

Who Was Carl Webb?

Carl Webb was an electrical engineer and instrument maker from Melbourne.

Records show he married Dorothy Robertson in 1941, but the couple had separated by around 1947. After the separation, Webb's paper trail goes cold. He appeared in no further records — until his body turned up on a beach 700 kilometers away.

For over seven decades, the Somerton Man had been the subject of espionage theories, Cold War intrigue, and romantic tragedy. The reality was more ordinary: he was a tradesman from Melbourne whose marriage had fallen apart.

But if the answer seems simple, the questions it raises are anything but.

The Mysteries That Remain

Even with Webb identified, the central puzzles of the case remain unsolved.

Why was a Melbourne electrical engineer lying dead on a beach in Adelaide? The cause of death has never been determined. The 1948 autopsy suggested poisoning but could not identify a specific toxin. The 2021 re-examination was similarly inconclusive.

The slip of paper found hidden in a concealed pocket of his trousers — printed with the words "Tamám Shud," Persian for "it is ended" — remains unexplained. The paper had been torn from a copy of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám that was found in a car parked near the beach.

On the back cover of that book, someone had penciled a sequence of letters that has never been decoded. Is it a cipher? A set of initials? Random scribbles? Cryptographers and amateur sleuths have spent decades trying to crack it. None have succeeded.

And then there is the connection to a woman named Joan Thomson, who lived near the phone number found written inside the book. Thomson, who died in 2007, reportedly knew more than she ever revealed — even to her own family.

Can the Code Be Broken?

In 2023, Abbott's team launched a fresh analysis of the mysterious letter sequence, now armed with a crucial new context: the identity of the man who carried it.

Knowing Webb's profession, personal relationships, and background offers potential keys that previous codebreakers lacked. Was the sequence related to his work as an instrument maker? Was it connected to someone in his personal life?

As of 2026, no definitive decryption has been achieved.

Beyond the Name

The Somerton Man story did not end with a name. It transformed.

The question "Who was this man?" has been answered. But "Why did he die?" and "Who — or what — killed him?" and "What do those letters mean?" remain as impenetrable as they were in 1948.

Carl Webb. Electrical engineer from Melbourne. Found dead on Somerton Park beach, December 1, 1948. Approximately 43 years old.

He has a name now. But his story is far from over.