Somerton Man's life is finally uncovered in candid family photos before he died on an Aussie beach 74 years ago with a coded message in his pocket sparking one of the world's most baffling mysteries
- Somerton Man researcher believes man found dead on beach is Charles Webb
- Carl 'Charles' Webb was born in 1905 in Victoria and was an instrument maker
- He loved poetry, married woman called Dorothy Robertson and left her in 1947
- His distant relatives have revealed what it's like to be related to Charles Webb
- They found series of candid photos of him in hiding in old family photo albums
The secret life and frayed family history of the Somerton Man has been revealed in a series of candid family photographs and divorce papers more than 70 years after the mysterious figure was found dead on an Adelaide beach.
The identity of the Somerton man has been shrouded in mystery ever since his body was discovered alone at the seaside suburb of Somerton Park in Adelaide in 1948, sparking rumours he fell victim to a jilted lover or had ties to Cold War spies.
His fully-clothed body was discovered by two trainee jockeys riding their horses on the popular beach with detectives noting a series of perplexing details.
The tags in the Somerton Man's clothes had been ripped out - a trademark of espionage agents - and he was found with nothing but a book of Persian poems and a coded note in his jacket pocket.
The cold case quickly became one of Australia's greatest unsolved mysteries with hordes of online sleuths and forensic experts trying to identify him.
In an old family photo album Charles Webb, believed by some experts to be the Somerton Man, in the back row of a family photo, playfully placing his hand on the head of a man thought to be his brother-in-law (Charles Webb is circled in red)
Siblings Stuart and Cristy Webb are believed to be the distant relatives of the Somerton Man
One such researcher is Professor Derek Abbott from Adelaide University, who is widely considered an expert on puzzling case of the Somerton Man.
In June, while collaborating with American forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick the pair were finally able to identify the Somerton Man as Carl 'Charles' Webb.
They were able to match three strands of 75-year-old hair found on a 'death mask' of the Somerton Man with genetic records uploaded by members of two separate families on a genealogical website.
Here they found siblings Stuart and Cristy Webb and Antero Bonifacio - relatives of a man they believed to be Charles Webb, who was born in 1905 in Melbourne and worked as an electrical instrument maker.
He played community football and was one of six siblings.
Using a sample of Cristy's saliva, Professor Abbott was able to match the siblings to the Somerton Man, prompting the family to take a trip down memory lane.
Antero Bonifacio (pictured) is believed to be the first cousin, three times removed, of Charles Webb who has been identified by experts as the Somerton Man using DNA samples
In another photo, a young boy marked C. Webb (bottom left) stares sternly into the camera from the front row of the Swinburne Technical College under-16 football team
Using a sample of Cristy's saliva, Professor Abbott told the Webb siblings they were in fact related to the Somerton Man, prompting the family to take a trip down memory lane
'Professor Abbott asked me if I was related to Norman Webb, who's my grandfather, and that led to a whole series of questions about my heritage and whether there's any photos or family histories that I can recall,' Stuart told ABC's Australian Story.
In an old family photo album they found Charles in the back row, playfully placing his hand on the head of a man believed to be his brother-in-law.
In another photo, a young boy marked C. Webb stares sternly into the camera from the front row of the Swinburne Technical College under-16 football team.
Cristy said she had mixed emotions upon hearing of her link to the Somerton Man.
The fully-clothed body of the Somerton Man was discovered by two trainee jockeys riding their horses on the popular beach with detectives noting a series of perplexing details
The tags in the Somerton Man's clothes had been ripped out and he was found with nothing but a book of Persian poems and a coded note in his pocket
Professor Derek Abbott (pictured) has been studying the case for years and is considered on of the experts on the Somerton Man who he identified as Charles Webb using DNA samples
'So I got my DNA results, and it was happiness, it was joy but there was also some sadness there about this forgotten family member,' she said.
'This was a person, he wasn't just a media hit for a little while or an unsolved mystery. He was our family.'
Mr Bonifacio is believed to be the first cousin, three times removed, of Charles Webb and has since questioned how his relative had ended up in Adelaide.
'Why didn't any of the siblings try and find out where he went? Did they know he'd gone to Adelaide and never came back?' he said.
The final years of Charles Webbs' life were shrouded in tragedy after his mother, father and beloved brother Roy died in the period leading up to his own death.
Adelaide University researcher Derek Abbott said the man was Carl 'Charles' Webb, a 43-year-old who was also an instrument maker (pictured, a visual image created of the man)
Webb's fully-clothed body was found with a coded note (pictured) in his pocket on Somerton Park Beach 74 years ago
He had married Dorothy Robertson in 1941 and the pair had a troubled marriage with his wife stating in a divorce decree that he was 'moody' and didn't have any friends.
In March of 1946, he is believed to have attempted to take his own life after Dorothy came home and found him gazing into space. She said the house had smelled like ether, a strong anaesthetic.
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Charles had loved to write poetry, especially about death, with many experts agreeing that he had died from suicide in 1948.
Sadly, not one of his family members had reported Charles missing after he left Melbourne for Adelaide in April, 1947.
The fact he was never claimed and the way he was found led many to speculate he was a Cold War-era spy (pictured, the burial of the Somerton Man on June 14, 1949)
The doctor who performed the post-mortem on his body found that his stomach was congested with blood and that he died after his heart had failed.
Despite the confidence of Prof. Abbott and Prof. Fitzpatrick, other experts say Charles Webb can't be categorically confirmed as the Somerton Man.
Xanthe Mallett, a forensic scientist and criminologist, said DNA was usually tested with an item belonging to the deceased, which had not occurred in this case.
The match is yet to be confirmed by South Australian Police, who are actively pursuing their own separate DNA investigation to be confirmed by the Coroner.
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