It is a case that’s haunted investigators around the world for 30 years.
In July 1994, a German border patrol boat spotted a body floating in the water off the coast of a tiny archipelago in the North Sea.
Scooping the waterlogged corpse from the ocean, the crew noticed signs of trauma around his head and upper body. Weighing him down was a pair of heavy iron casts known as cobblers’ shoes.
The mystery man was taken back to the mainland for a post-mortem examination, where investigators took note of his tidy outfit: a pale blue dress shirt, with distinctive woollen striped tie, navy trousers and a pair of leather dress shoes.
Headlines soon spread across the continent about the man dubbed The Gentleman of Heligoland, as police searched high and low for any connections to the dapper victim.
Despite decades of investigative work and public appeals, his identity remains a mystery.
Now, 30 years since the day he was found, researchers are hoping that new genetic mapping techniques could finally solve this case.
And they have reason to believe the answer is somewhere here in Australia.
Who was the North Sea Man?
Little is known about the man pulled from the North Sea.
An unusually tall man, he would have stood between 188 and 198 centimetres, and was estimated as somewhere between 45 and 50 years old at the time he died.
“He’d received a blow to the head and a blow the ribs, so the case was assigned to homicide police in Germany to investigate,” explains Roland Hughes, a spokesperson for British missing persons charity Locate International.
“The fact he was weighed down by these two iron cobblers’ shoes, which are heavy, also suggested foul play.”
While the body was found 20km off the coast of the island of Heligoland, it’s possible it had drifted from a different location before being spotted by the German patrol boat.
Details about the man’s neat appearance led the media to use a nickname investigators are now keen to avoid — The Gentleman.
“There’s been a bit of a misconception that he was some high-society guy,” Mr Hughes says.
“But that’s potentially misleading – he was well-dressed, but nothing out of the ordinary.”
Early on, it was thought the man’s striped tie might have been linked to an exclusive club. But police later established it was in fact a mass-produced accessory from the British retailer Marks and Spencer.
The mystery person is now referred to more commonly as the North Sea Man.
The mysterious link to Australia
A major breakthrough in the case came when it was picked up by the International Cold Case Analysis Project (ICCAP).
The program brings together experts from universities and law enforcement agencies across the world, to take a fresh look at cold cases that are considered solvable.
Among them was Murdoch University in Perth, where forensic scientist Brendan Chapman worked with his students to review the evidence.
The international network then successfully lobbied for the North Sea Man’s body to be exhumed.
“That allowed us to collect some new samples which were sent for more advanced DNA analysis, as well as analysis of the stable isotopes within his bones,” Dr Chapman says.
“And that’s what indicated that the North Sea Man had spent a lengthy period of his life in Australia.”
Stable isotope analysis can narrow down where a person has lived by examining the presence of elements like carbon and hydrogen in their bones and teeth, which originates from the food they’ve consumed.
Dr Chapman is keen to point out it’s not a precise science, but a strong indicator.
“When I saw that isotope ratio result it was this kind of mind-blowing moment,” he reflects.
“Serendipitously, this investigation that appeared to be entirely of German origin swung back to Australia. And that’s where we’ve been ever since.”
The investigators say collaboration has been the key to keeping the case active, with the ICCAP structure allowing university students, scientists and law enforcement agencies to bring fresh perspectives and compare notes.
A promising lead
The news of the North Sea Man’s link to Australia was made public in 2022, triggering a string of fresh tip-offs about his possible identity.
Locate International acted as a liaison, collecting the new information and distributing to police in Germany and the United Kingdom.
The charity is staffed by more than 300 volunteers, all committed to trying to find missing people and identifying the many unidentified bodies on their database.
“North Sea Man is a very strange, very intriguing and we think very solvable case,” Mr Hughes says.
“He’d now be around 80 years old, so there’s a sense of urgency with this now. And we’re fairly sure that the key to solving the case may lay in Australia.”
One particularly promising tip-off from the UK led the team to Western Australia, but there have been no solid developments yet. The organisation is keen to hear from any members of the public who may have information about the mystery man.
“So now it’s really important that people let us know if they have thoughts or ideas or information – we want to hear from anybody and everybody,” Mr Hughes says.
“Did you know someone in school or at university maybe in the 50s or 60s, who was unusually tall, that maybe you were in contact with but not anymore?”
Could genetic mapping hold the key?
Investigators believe the case can be solved — the question is whether the breakthrough will come through old-fashioned tip-offs, or rapidly evolving DNA science.
Hopes are high that forensic investigative genetic genealogy, or FIGG, maybe be the answer.
The approach involves scouring DNA databases linked to commercial family heritage companies such as GEDMatch to try to establish a DNA link to unidentified bodies.
Jodie Ward specialises in forensic human identification, and pioneered Australia’s first DNA database for missing persons.
“Forensic investigative genetic genealogy is a relatively new forensic technique that’s been used since about 2018,” she explains.
“As more countries are adopting the technology we’ve seeing a growing number of unidentified human remains cases being solved.”
In the four years it was operating, the National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons helped solve 19 cases, some via the use of FIGG. Dr Ward believes the same technology could prove useful in identifying the North Sea Man.
“Based on what I know of the North Sea Man case, I think forensic investigative genetic genealogy is the perfect next step for the investigation,” she says.
“Given the forensic testing has not returned any matches on law enforcement databases, and indicates the individual has spent time in different countries, it makes perfect sense that FIGG — which has global reach — is being used as the next step.”
According to Locate International, German investigators have decided to use FIGG on the North Sea Man case, but it won’t happen immediately.
While this kind of forensic science has been useful in high-profile cases such as the Golden State Killer, it often remains a last resort for investigators navigating complex legal and ethical hurdles to track down suspects.
Jurisdictions around the world are wrestling with how to regulate its use while addressing privacy concerns and the potential for misuse.
Dr Ward says regulators are trying to strike a balance between resolving cases, while respecting the privacy of people who’ve done a consumer DNA test but not consented to their information being used in a police investigation.
“There’s a number of prerequisite activities normally undertaken before law enforcement starts using this technique, things like privacy impact assessments and legal reviews,” she says.
“In Australia, there’s no national legislation in place, and as you can imagine these kind of DNA technologies are evolving at a rapid pace.
“So most jurisdictions have now put in place governing policies and procedures, which dictate how that technique can be used, and by whom, and under what circumstances.”
Dr Ward believes the current approach of assessing the use of FIGG on a case-by-case basis is working well.
And it’s already helped solve cases in Australia, including matching human remains found on Kangaroo Island with long-time missing person William Henry Hardie, and identifying the body of Queensland woman Tanya Lee Glover.
Where to now for the North Sea Man?
No matter what his country of origin, there is one thing beyond doubt.
Long before he ended up floating alone in a cold ocean, the North Sea Man had family and people who knew him.
At its core, the search for his identity is personal rather than scientific.
“We approach this from a very human point of view,” says Mr Hughes, as he looks over the faded photos of the man’s ocean-soaked clothes.
“At the end of the day this is someone that died in strange circumstances, but hasn’t been afforded the dignity of being buried with his name. It’s our job to give him back that dignity.
“And if there’s a family out there who also want answers, then we have a duty to do that.
“It may be 30 years on, but that’s still not too late.”
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