Thirty years since the body of a tall, well-dressed mystery man was found in Germany, investigators will use DNA to try to solve the cold case, and they believe the breakthrough could come from Australia. It's hoped the decision to apply genetic genealogy will provide answers at a time when authorities are wrestling with how best to manage the game-changing technology.
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00:00A face that's haunted investigators for three decades, the so-called North Sea Man.
00:08North Sea Man is a very strange, very intriguing and we think very solvable case.
00:14The man's body was found in 1994 in the waters off Germany's north coast.
00:20Injuries to his head and torso and metal weights attached to his body indicated he was murdered.
00:25Unusually tall and well-dressed in clothes purchased in the United Kingdom, his identity
00:30remains a mystery.
00:32An international network of investigators, including Murdoch University in Perth, has
00:37taken on the case, exhuming the North Sea Man's body and using isotope analysis on his
00:43bones and teeth to make a surprising discovery.
00:47They provided indications of the North Sea Man's origin, having spent a lengthy period
00:54of his life in Australia.
00:57Investigators have now confirmed they'll attempt genetic mapping in a last-ditch bid to crack
01:02the case.
01:03I think forensic investigative genetic genealogy is the perfect next step for this investigation.
01:08The technique uses DNA databases to try to make a familial match, but is currently only
01:14used as a last resort due to concern over privacy and potential misuse.
01:19Professor Jody Ward helped establish Australia's first missing persons DNA database.
01:24There is this balance between ensuring we're really utilising the technology to its full
01:29potential to identify cases that would not be able to be resolved otherwise, whilst still
01:36acknowledging the privacy concerns for those living relatives.
01:40I'm 99.9% confident that the North Sea Man can be identified.
01:49It's just a matter of how we do it.
01:50The only question, whether forensic science or a tip-off from the public, will prove the
01:55answer to this 30-year-old mystery.