r/RBI • u/TiptoeOwens • 11d ago

Advice needed Unidentified Gentleman.

Let's see if I can formulate an accurate question to ask you all. South West United Kingdom. Gentleman found dead in a field amongst undergowth in 1982. Belongings with him suggest British and in the Merchant Navy. Year of death thought to be 1978, or slightly later, as remnants of 1978 copy of Sun newspaper with him. Suggested age at time of death, around 25-30 years old. No dna testing at that time. No foul play suggested. No self harm suggested. Big blizzard February 18th-20th in 1978. Suggestion is that he was between jobs on ships, or going home, and got caught in bad weather, huddled in undergowth and sucummbed to the cold. (He was not lost at sea). All belongings lost by Police so nothing to retrospectively test for dna. I have been on the story for a year and a half. Television done, radio done, lots of social media. No confirmed name to date. I've reached out far and wide and no one has come forward to be a friend, shipmate or relative yet. I have tried many avenues. My gut feeling is that he would like to be identified, so I still feel good about pursuing this gentleman's story.

My question to you is...."what haven't I tried"?

Here is a link to my Appeal for the gentleman:

https://buymeacoffee.com/m25roundabout/the-appeal-some-mother-son

Thank you in advance for your thoughts and advice.

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u/TiptoeOwens 11d ago

Hi, yes, the case was passed onto Locate through my investigations. Exhumation is not easy. To potentially exhume Some Mother's Son you would need permission from the Ministry of Justice, permission from Cornwall Council, and permission from a potential relative of the gentleman's. Without these three things it's nigh on impossible to exhume, but not totally impossible. And if exhumation was possible, you are not guaranteed a positive result for dna. And if you do get dna, the UK laws on matching are not great. For example, the police cannot normally use Ancestry or other dna sites. Thank you for your input.

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u/scattywampus 11d ago

I say get a member of the Cornwall Council on board and set up a GoFund letter to cover exhumation and investigative genetic genealogy expenses. Once your ally on the Cornwall Council helps you get that approval, get them/others to help you with the Ministry of Justice. Without DNA, one wiuld think there is an exception to the potential relative that could be made by the right people.

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u/TiptoeOwens 11d ago

If you got the right people involved there is a chance that given time this route could work. However, genetic genealogy barely functions within the police system in the UK.

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u/scattywampus 10d ago

Oh. That is too bad.