A red pennywhistle, a paperback book called The Greatest Batman Stories and one blue shoe with a blue bow. These were just a couple of clues collected at two different scenes in the 1990s - each where a body was recovered, but which has never been identified.
Locate International, a UK registered charity, helps families to solve missing persons cases and unidentified loved ones. They have asked for anyone with information who could help to identify two people whose bodies were found between 20 to 30 years ago. The cases involved two different scenes and are not connected in any way, but neither has ever been identified.
The first case happened on 19 May 1996 known as “Clifton Bridge Suspension Man” when a man’s body was found on the banks of the River Avon after having fallen from the bridge.
He is described as of medium build, around 6ft tall with light-brown collar-length hair, blue eyes and between 25 and 35 years old. But it is often the belongings or what the person was wearing which provides crucial clues as to their identity.
In this case the man’s possessions included a Great Britain A-Z map, a Eurohike Adventure guide map, a Bible, a blank Barclays slip, a black sleeping bag and a handwritten message on cardboard which said ‘sleeping rough, thank-you’. Also among his personal items were a copy of Thomas More’s Utopia with no outer cover and West Glamorgan County Council on the front page, a paperback book of The Greatest Batman Stories and a red pennywhistle.
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The second case is the ‘Burnham-On-Sea woman’ who was found on the beach near to the Low Lighthouse at Burnham-On-Sea on January 13, 1993. At that time, there were reports of a couple of days of stormy weather conditions.
The woman was estimated to have been between 60 and 70 years old with long grey hair and of thin build. She was found wearing a light-green and beige overcoat, black knitted gloves and a yellow-and-black patterned scarf.
She had only one shoe, described as blue with a blue bow as well as having on three cardigans underneath the coat - a heavy light blue cardigan, a black one with black beads around the collar and shoulder and a pink cardigan with gold buttons. She also had on a knee length Jaeger-branded black skirt.
She had in her possession a packet of paracetamol tablets, as well as an 'after curry' mint with the word Kansaras on it. The public is asked to see if anyone saw her out walking or is anyone familiar with Kansaras mints.
Retired police officers Dave Grimstead and Neil Smith started Locate International three years ago to help in solving unsolved missing persons cases. Dave said: “There are just over 11,000 unsolved missing person cases and 1,000 unidentified people and police don’t always have the resources to tackle all these cases.”
He said the charity has about 150 community volunteers and 150 university volunteers, with both volunteer sets bringing together a wide range of different backgrounds and experiences. This ranges from doctors and lawyers to mental health and IT professionals and Dave added the team are talented and dedicated when it comes to solving cold cases and bringing closure to desperate families.
“Having such a diverse group of volunteers is where the value comes in, as we have such diverse cases. We also have volunteers in Europe and Australia and so it also helps with languages.”
Neil said: “Some of these cases go back as far as the 1970s who at that time would have had parents or partners. But there will still be family members many years later and if we can give them answers and closure, that’s what drives our volunteers.”
Dave highlighted that a small clue could often be a lead for the investigating volunteer. The charity is also a member of the International Cold Case Analysis Project which works with Missing Persons and police networks which includes teams from universities in the UK, France, Germany, North Macedonia and Australia and trains students in investigation techniques for missing and unidentified people.
Anyone who may have information regarding the above two cases can visit Locate International’s website and to look under Current Cases where information can be shared with the team.
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