Australian authorities are hoping to get to the bottom of one of the 20th century's most intriguing cold cases: that of the still-unidentified Somerton Man, a suit-clad, 40-something man who was found dead on a beach near Adelaide—possibly by poison—on the morning of Dec. 1, 1948. Now, authorities believe advances in DNA make exhuming the body for testing worthwhile, so that's exactly what they're doing, reports the BBC. South Australia Attorney General Vickie Chapman said the decision to do so was made in April due in part to "intense public interest" in the case. More:
- That's likely in part to the smattering of odd clues tied to the case: the man had calf muscles like a dancer's, missing teeth, and a scrap of paper on him featuring the Farsi words "Tamam Shud," meaning "the end." Police determined they were ripped from a translated copy of the Persian poet Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat.