Blockbuster revolves around the mystery in ‘The Gentleman’ 30 years old about a dead man found at sea with cast iron shoes
A BOMBSHELL breakthrough was made in the mysterious case of the ‘Gentleman’ found in the North Sea with cast iron shoes.
Scientists now believe the man found by police off a group of German islands in 1994, actually spent most of his life in Australia.
He was nicknamed ‘The Gentleman’ after being found in a wool tie, blue long-sleeve shirt, British-made shoes and French-made trousers.
His body, found in the waters off the coast of Helgoland, was weighed down at the feet of an iron miner.
Investigators in the 1990s believed he was between 45 and 50 years old when he died and initially suspected he was from England.
German police have been baffled in their quest to learn more about the man, but criminologists and forensic scientists from Murdoch University in Perth have now made significant strides.
By applying the ‘you are what you eat’ rationale, the scientists were able to perform isotope ratio analysis in Gentleman’s bones.
Differences in land, climate, and human activity around the world change the isotopic compositions of food, water, and even dust in the isotopic composition of human tissues.
Collected data suggests the man may have spent most of his life in Australia, The Guardian reported.
The new tests also created a DNA profile of the man, who was believed to have been between 45 and 50 years old when he died.
Brendan Chapman, a director from Murdoch University’s Cold Case Review team, said it was a remarkable revelation.
He said: “It is likely that from the small subset of universities working on this case, what is a person going to be from the country where that man is from?”
The researchers hope his DNA can reveal more about who he is and whether he has any living relatives.
Details of his case were released within the framework of Missing Persons Week, with authorities calling on Australians to get tested to help tackle some of the nation’s chilling cases.