The Man from Tregantle, Torpoint, Cornwall.

[Simon Owens]

Sounds like it was Inspector Clusoe in charge of the case Simon. If they had a description of him or a photograph the first place they would have looked was where most seamen frequented the local bordellos and pubs. Ah well maybe he was one of the few seafarers who didn’t imbibe. Good hunting you’ll get there if you persevere . JS

If you feel as though you are having no success still carry on if you feel justified in doing so. Up until a couple of years ago I had been trying to pinpoint a person for over 30 years , this was because I thought he may have been an accessory to a marine disaster. It preyed on my mind for that length of time and everyone I had contact with in the same sphere of the disaster I questioned , the first break was talking to someone over 10,000 miles away who gave me a clue , a year later someone from this site sent me an old photo of a newspaper clipping and I recognised the person straight away although he was 30 years older. So I had carried around thoughts for 30 plus years , fortuanetley I was wrong in my suspicions , which I was very thankful for , as would still be looking for him to this day. It can get to be an albatross round your neck. So hope you are looking for the right reasons. Cheers JS

Many thanks for your comments and your experience of looking for someone. In this case there were no photographs or descriptions because it is an unidentified body story and not a missing person story. All they found of the gentleman's body was his skeleton. The coroner thought he may have been there for about 4 years. And I get what you mean about the reasons for trying to solve these type of mysteries. In my case, the story is very local to me. The gentleman's grave stone is in a cemetery a mile or so away. It's very easy to get obsessed with these type of searches but I am not going down that route. My philosophy is that if the gentleman finally wants his name on his gravestone and that he is happy for me, a living human being, to help in the matter, then I will continue to etch away. I feel quietly confident that I am doing the right thing-for the time being anyway. Many thanks for your input.

[Simon Owens]

Or just thought he had shipped out on a tramper and if he had no family he would not be missed, and if he had a family it was still in the days of snail mail where contact could run months behind as letters chased the ship around the world and we know a lot of seamen didn't bother to write home

Thanks for your comment Ivan. And yes, the investigation back in 1982 was done using primarily snail mail between CID and various police stations, and also with the Merchant Navy. We hopefully have the advantage in 2025 with near instant messaging, databanks, and far better forensics. I am encouraged by my gentle investigations so far.