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The Somerton Man: the mystery on an Adelaide beach

In 1948 an unidentified man was found dead on Somerton Beach in Adelaide. A summary of the case, the 'Tamam Shud' scrap and the 2022 identification.

On the morning of 1 December 1948, a well-dressed man was found dead on Somerton Beach near Adelaide, South Australia. He carried no identification, the labels had been removed from his clothes, and the cause of death was never established. For more than 70 years nobody knew who he was.

Tamam Shud

Months later, a tiny rolled-up scrap of paper was found in a hidden pocket of his trousers. It bore the printed words "Tamám Shud", Persian for "ended" or "finished", torn from a copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The copy it came from was later handed in to police and contained a faint pencilled code and a telephone number that led to a local nurse. The code has never been convincingly deciphered.

Theories

Over the decades the case attracted theories of Cold War espionage, poisoning and a secret love affair. None was proven. An inquest could not determine how he died.

The 2022 identification

In 2021 South Australia Police exhumed the body for DNA testing. In July 2022, University of Adelaide professor Derek Abbott and genetic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick announced that, using DNA from hairs in the death mask, they had identified the man as Carl "Charles" Webb, an electrical engineer from Melbourne born in 1905. Police and forensic authorities have continued their own work on the official identification.

What remains unknown?

Even with a likely name, the key questions remain open: why Webb was in Adelaide, why he carried the scrap of paper and how he died.

Sources and further reading

• University of Adelaide: Professor Derek Abbott
• South Australia Police

Facts checked on 20 October 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.