Body washed up on Scillies beach may have been on doomed ship 40 years ago
Cold case investigators believe they may have identified and found the resting place of a man whose body was found washed up on a beach in the Isles of Scilly 40 years ago.
The team at Locate International believe the man could have been a Greek crewman on board one of two ships involved in shipping disasters in the Seventies.
Following an original appeal, which thousands of people from all over the world responded to, investigators think they may now be on track to finally solving the 'ring of mystery' case.
The man's identity has been a mystery since his body was discovered on Porth Minick beach on St Mary's in February 1979.
He is known as 'Georgio' because of the gold wedding band he was wearing, inscribed with the words 'Georgio and Katrina 1956'.
Investigators understand he was born between the two world wars and was between 40 and 60 years old.
A spokesperson for Locate International said: “In our last appeal, we asked members of the public for their help in solving the ‘Ring of Mystery’. The response was fantastic and we are incredibly grateful.
“We received information that the clothes worn by ‘Georgio’ when he was found may suggest he worked on a ship.
“Through undertaking further research into this line of enquiry, we have since become aware of a number of shipping disasters that occurred in the North Atlantic Ocean in the months leading up to ‘Georgio’ being found on Porth Minick beach on 21 Feb 1979.”
Researchers in Germany studied records of shipping disasters in the Atlantic Ocean and understood 'Georgio' could have been onboard MS München at the time of his death.
Since then investigators from Locate International have concluded the German vessel in question has been removed from their line of inquiry.
A spokesperson said: “We are now focused on the oil tanker Andros Patria (December31, 1978) and MV Tenorga (December 28, 1978) disasters as we believe both of these ships had Greek crews, some of whom were tragically lost at sea.
“By obtaining the names of those lost at sea, we hope to find someone called ‘Georgio’. We will then conduct further enquiries with the aim of solving the ‘Ring of Mystery’.”
He said through painstaking research, the site where 'Georgio's' body was laid to rest has also been identified.
He added: “We have been making extensive enquiries as to where ‘Georgio’ was buried. 40 years is a long time and way before computers were used to keep accurate details. After many hours of painstaking work, we were able to identify a plot in a graveyard in Penzance.
“This means that when the ‘Ring of Mystery’ is solved, family members will have somewhere to visit which was one of our priorities.”
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