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Man

Age: 25

Sex: male

Date: 6 Sep 1961

Place: Perran Sands, Truro, Cornwall

The body of a man was found on Perran Sands at Truro on 6 September 1961.

When the Coroner summed up at the inquest on Tuesday 19 September 1961 he said, 'In view of the time that has elapsed between the finding of the body and inquiries made in an endeavour to identify it, at present without success, there is no alternative but to record an open verdict. There is no evidence to show who he was or where and when he came by his death'.

The body was found by a man that had lived in St John's Road in Abingdon, Berkshire. He said that he was walking along Perran Sands with his son and daughter on 6 September 1961 when he saw what he thought was a skeleton but that on further inspection he found that it was a naked body. After the body was found it was taken to the Royal Cornwall Infirmary in Truro  where comparisons were made with missing persons, but no identification was made.

The pathologist said that the body had been in the sea for between five and six weeks.

It was the body of a healthy man aged between 25 and 35, and 5ft 9in tall.

He said that the cause of death had been drowning but that it was impossible to tell whether there had been any other contributing factors.

An open verdict was returned.

The Clerk to Truro Rural District Council said that the body would be buried at the expense of the council's general rate fund and the funeral would be at Perranzabuloe.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser - Thursday 21 September 1961