PrimeSuspect
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The mystery of ‘Rack Man’, tied to a crucifix and dumped in the Hawkesbury River
On Thursday, 11 August 1994, Mark Peterson’s workday began like any other. He’d cruised up the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney, until his boat the Lady Marion was bobbing calmly in the water just past Challenger Head.
But Mark’s peaceful day took its bizarre turn around midday when he dragged the cumbersome steel frame onto his deck. Attached to the frame were several plastic bags, and out of one poked a bone. Surely it was from an animal, he thought. But when Mark looked closer, he could see even more bones and realised his catch was even fishier than usual. Immediately, he called the Broken Bay Water Police.
The next day, forensic pathologist Dr Chris Lawrence examined the remains more closely at the New South Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine in Glebe.
........
From the skull, Dr Lawrence determined that the remains belonged to a dark-haired caucasian man between twenty-one and forty-six years old who’d died from blunt force injuries to the head. The length of the dead man’s bones showed he was fairly short, about 163 centimetres tall, give or take three centimetres.
Forensic odontologist Dr Chris Griffiths examined the victim’s skull and teeth and concluded that his face might have been slightly misshapen. The man had no fillings and his first lower right molar had been removed, probably when he was very young.
Unfortunately, the water had washed away the dead man’s fingerprints, and his DNA sample was of such poor quality it couldn’t identify him either. But police don’t rule out that, with advances in technology, DNA will eventually name him.
........
Other clues to his identity were his clothes. He wore a medium sized polo shirt with the label ‘Everything Australian’. His large, dark-coloured tracksuit pants were branded ‘No Sweat’, and there was a packet of Benson & Hedges cigarettes and a pink lighter in his left pocket. He also wore a pair of ‘Sparrow’ brand blue and white striped underpants which were designed to fit an eighty-five centimetre waist.
“Police showed the shirt to the operations manager from “Everything Australian”, who indicated that the company used the logo on the shirt tag between 1982 and 1987,” John says. “She also indicated that during that period of time, the company had around twenty-three stores throughout Australia, mainly in New South Wales and Queensland.”
Today, the body of Rack Man still lies refrigerated at the morgue, waiting for someone to claim him and give him a proper burial. And even if he was an underworld player, he certainly didn’t deserve to die like this.
The mystery of the man tied to a crucifix and dumped in the Hawkesbury River
Very disturbing individual/s who did this, it could be linked to the drug world or a person owing someone money.
There's probably family and friends who are missing a loved one, it could be this man.
On Thursday, 11 August 1994, Mark Peterson’s workday began like any other. He’d cruised up the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney, until his boat the Lady Marion was bobbing calmly in the water just past Challenger Head.
But Mark’s peaceful day took its bizarre turn around midday when he dragged the cumbersome steel frame onto his deck. Attached to the frame were several plastic bags, and out of one poked a bone. Surely it was from an animal, he thought. But when Mark looked closer, he could see even more bones and realised his catch was even fishier than usual. Immediately, he called the Broken Bay Water Police.
The next day, forensic pathologist Dr Chris Lawrence examined the remains more closely at the New South Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine in Glebe.
........
From the skull, Dr Lawrence determined that the remains belonged to a dark-haired caucasian man between twenty-one and forty-six years old who’d died from blunt force injuries to the head. The length of the dead man’s bones showed he was fairly short, about 163 centimetres tall, give or take three centimetres.
Forensic odontologist Dr Chris Griffiths examined the victim’s skull and teeth and concluded that his face might have been slightly misshapen. The man had no fillings and his first lower right molar had been removed, probably when he was very young.
Unfortunately, the water had washed away the dead man’s fingerprints, and his DNA sample was of such poor quality it couldn’t identify him either. But police don’t rule out that, with advances in technology, DNA will eventually name him.
........
Other clues to his identity were his clothes. He wore a medium sized polo shirt with the label ‘Everything Australian’. His large, dark-coloured tracksuit pants were branded ‘No Sweat’, and there was a packet of Benson & Hedges cigarettes and a pink lighter in his left pocket. He also wore a pair of ‘Sparrow’ brand blue and white striped underpants which were designed to fit an eighty-five centimetre waist.
“Police showed the shirt to the operations manager from “Everything Australian”, who indicated that the company used the logo on the shirt tag between 1982 and 1987,” John says. “She also indicated that during that period of time, the company had around twenty-three stores throughout Australia, mainly in New South Wales and Queensland.”
Today, the body of Rack Man still lies refrigerated at the morgue, waiting for someone to claim him and give him a proper burial. And even if he was an underworld player, he certainly didn’t deserve to die like this.
The mystery of the man tied to a crucifix and dumped in the Hawkesbury River
Very disturbing individual/s who did this, it could be linked to the drug world or a person owing someone money.
There's probably family and friends who are missing a loved one, it could be this man.