Mystery remains a year after body found in Queensland's Maroochy River
By Josh Dye
ABC Sunshine Coast
Topic:Police
17m ago17 minutes agoWed 11 Dec 2024 at 8:08pm
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In short:
The mystery remains about the man who washed up dead on Queensland's Sunshine Coast a year ago.
Despite exhaustive police investigations, nobody has come forward to claim his body.
What's next?
A relatively new DNA technique could hold the key to identifying the man.
The identity of a mystery man who washed up in a Queensland river a year ago continues to puzzle police.
On November 30 last year, horrified members of the public on the Sunshine Coast called police after spotting a man's body floating up the Maroochy River beside a busy road.
Detective Senior Constable Todd Korac was one of the first on the scene, as officers pulled the body from the water.
"It happened about 8am, people that were walking along the esplanade there saw something in the water," he said.
police cars beside a river
Police pulled the man's body out of the water at a boat ramp. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Josh Dye)
The man was found wearing a black t-shirt and shorts, elastic knee supports and had evidence of surgery on his right knee.
He had no obvious injuries and was not carrying any identity documents.
Despite multiple police appeals, local door-knocking and police divers searching the river, the man has not been identified.
Personal items found
About a week after the body was found, police finally had a breakthrough.
On December 8, someone discovered a small pile of abandoned items among mangroves on the northern side of the Maroochy River near where the man was found.
backpack and water bottle in grass
Belongings were found in the Maroochy River in November 2023. (Supplied: Queensland Police)
The belongings included a distinctive APT backpack, a shoe, a jacket and — crucially — a Bunnings receipt.
Police then obtained CCTV footage from the hardware store of a tall man wearing the same clothes, backpack and knee braces on November 27, three days before his body washed up.
The middle-aged man was about 190 centimetres tall with reddish-brown, short-cropped hair and a receding hairline.
Computer generated image of man
Police released this computer-generated image of the man before they found the CCTV footage. (Supplied: Queensland Police Service)
He had a heavy-set build and no tattoos, piercings or distinctive marks on his body.
Officers hoped releasing the footage, which clearly showed the man's face, would prompt someone to identify him.
But to their dismay, nobody did.
"It is very unusual," Senior Constable Korac said.
"I've been a police officer for 25 years and I've never come across this … where a person is clearly visible and identifiable and hasn't been positively identified by the community."
Cash purchase
The man purchased his Bunnings items using cash and then left the store on foot, so detectives were unable to trace his identity.
The man's watch and brown wallet seen in the CCTV footage haven't been found and police do not know if he had a mobile phone.
still image of cctv footage of man at bunnings with blue backpack
CCTV footage of the unidentified man buying items at Bunnings three days before his body was found. (Supplied: Queensland Police)
Police determined the man likely died by suicide.
His autopsy revealed he was heavily intoxicated with a blood-alcohol level of 0.3 or six times the legal driving limit.
Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Chris Duhig said it was baffling that no one had reported the man's disappearance.
"It is just so rare that you'll find a person like this that nobody is missing," he said.
"We're just hoping that … someone will finally realise that we haven't seen this friend, this relative for ages [and] perhaps we need to go to the police."
DNA testing inconclusive
Police have conducted DNA testing but it has not yielded a clear result.
"We're only going to be able to identify him if his DNA already exists in a [police] database, which it doesn't," Acting Senior Sergeant Duhig said.
The DNA was shared with law enforcement overseas through an Interpol Black Notice, but that also drew a blank.
A plain clothes police officer with a serious face
Chris Duhig says the case is very rare. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Jessica Ross)
Genetic tests have established the man was aged between 44 and 52.
They believe he was from overseas, but have been unable to find a positive match through international missing persons registers.
The autopsy also revealed a pin in the man's right knee, which investigators tried to trace to a specific hospital.
"It hasn't led us anywhere, there are numbers on it but they appear to be a generic model number," Acting Senior Sergeant Duhig said.
Another theory police hold is that the man never wanted to be found.
"It could be the case that he doesn't want us to know who he is," Acting Senior Sergeant Duhig said.
New tech
The senior sergeant said police were using a relatively new DNA technology called Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG) through the Australian Federal Police.
The AFP declined an interview to talk about the process but a spokesperson said its forensic specialists had analysed DNA from the man's body.
"Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy techniques have been used but at this stage, authorities have not been able to establish the identity of the man," the spokesperson said.
A digital representation of a family tree.
Using FIGG, investigators can build a family tree with greater scope to identify remains. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)
University of Newcastle criminologist Xanthe Mallett said the "very advanced" DNA technology was helping police in unidentified persons' cases like this.
FIGG involves police using DNA to match against two public genealogy databases that people use to research their family trees.
"Investigators can upload somebody's DNA sample to Gedmatch or FamilyTreeDNA and look for genetic relatives," Associate Professor Mallett said.
"They'll show up anywhere in the world if someone has uploaded their data."
woman in red dress looking at camera
Xanthe Mallett says advancing technology increases the odds of identifying mystery cases. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Jessica Ross)
She said there are about 750 sets of unidentified human remains across Australia — some going back decades.
In some cases, the remains consist only of bones, whereas in this case the man's body was found soon after he died.
Renewed appeal
A year on from the man's discovery, police have renewed their appeal.
Acting Senior Sergeant Duhig said any information was valuable and hoped the clear CCTV footage and distinctive travel backpack might "jog someone's memory".
"They might remember being on a cruise or a bus or a train with this gentleman and remember his two knee supports that he was wearing at the time and the way he walked," he said.
"It could be a small piece of a jigsaw."
CCTV of man wearing shorts and t shirt on escalator
Police are still holding out hope that someone will come forward to identify the man. (Supplied: Queensland Police)
Associate Professor Mattett said advancing technology improved the prospect of solving unidentified cases.
Until then, the man's body will remain at rest in a morgue.
"It's really important these people are identified and given whatever burial rites their family or loved ones or they would wish," she said.
"We never lose hope."
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Posted17m ago17 minutes agoWed 11 Dec 2024 at 8:08pm
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