Identified! Holland - Male, size 48 jeans, sailing yacht(‘1 HB)Den Helder, 16 Jul 1995 - Hans (Surname withheld)

[Bit of hope]

I have a subsription. Will give it a try later today, there are some interesting details.... CLIFFHANGER!

Hahaha, great!

 

[Bethan]

It's weird - I went through the articles and never saw a mention of that waffle-looking bruise tattoo inky thing. There is that picture but it's never mentioned or described. Maybe I missed it?

Look at the metal watch strap.

I think this waffle-like mark is an imprint from this......perhaps his body was lying with arm beneath him after being washed up?

The blue discolouration may be due to the metal corroding in the seawater. If you look at the metal watch strap there are signs of corrosion.

 

[dotr]

Look at the metal watch strap.

I think this waffle-like mark is an imprint from this......perhaps his body was lying with arm beneath him after being washed up?

The blue discolouration may be due to the metal corroding in the seawater. If you look at the metal watch strap there are signs of corrosion.

Thinking you are right!

• 
• 
• Den Helder, Razende Bol | politie.nl

 

[YaYa_521]

Look at the metal watch strap.

I think this waffle-like mark is an imprint from this......perhaps his body was lying with arm beneath him after being washed up?

The blue discolouration may be due to the metal corroding in the seawater. If you look at the metal watch strap there are signs of corrosion.

Impressive!

 

[ZaZara]

Laatste hoop in zaak verdronken schipper

Investigation into the mystery of the Razende Bol reopened
Last hope in case of drowned skipper

Den Helder - Who is the drowned skipper of the Razende Bol? For more than two decades the police have been in the dark about the identity of the person who washed ashore drowned on the sandbank southwest of Texel in the summer of 1995. The Maritime Police Team in Den Helder has now reopened the case as a 'cold case'. "We want to give this victim his name back."

There wasn't much left of the sailboat. It was half buried under the sand, the deck shattered. Probably beachcombers had already taken away materials from it when it was discovered by another beachcomber on June 24, 1995. There was nothing to tell where the boat came from nor who the owner was. A Swedish sticker on the aluminium mast was the only clue for the police. The torn sail was no help either. There were the letters HB1 on it, but it was not possible to tell where the wreck came from.

Three weeks after the discovery of the boat, a pilot in a sports plane flew over De Razende Bol to spot seals. On the beach on the south side he noticed the skipper's corpse. Section on the body indicated that the man had probably drowned four weeks earlier.

The man was about one metre seventy-five in length, wore blue jeans, a grey sweater and white sneakers. He was also wearing a Seiko sailing watch that was made for the Swedish market in 1985. Although the police thoroughly investigated all traces, the identity of the man was not clarified. Because he had not been reported missing anywhere, the suspicion arose that the man must have been a Swedish freebooter who possibly led a vagrant life. The case was brought to the attention of the police in Norway and Sweden. The Swedish variant of Investigation Requested even paid attention, all without result.

The Maritime Police in Den Helder has now reopened the case as a so-called cold case. The focus is still on identifying the man. Among other things, they are looking for beachcombers who were the first to arrive at the shipwreck at the time. "It is possible that someone may have taken something with them that might indicate where the boat came from," according to investigator John Welzenbagh. "Maybe ID cards or bank cards, or other proof of identity was found at the time. That is why we ask anyone who took anything to come forward. They don't have to worry, we won't prosecute them."

The shipwreck of De Razende Bol, including the mast, is currently in the Maritime and Beachcombers Museum (Kaap Skil) in the Texelse Oudeschild. "It would be nice if after 21 years we could finally give a name to the grave of this unknown skipper," Welzenbagh says. "I hope that we can then remove any uncertainty for his next of kin, so that they too know what happened to him at the time."


BBM


The description of the clothing is a bit off, don't give it too much attention. Nor does the watch look like a sailing watch, whatever that may be. I see no indication that you may navigate with it for instance. I don't think you could either, with the technology of 1995.

According to the Texelse Courant
Wrak uit 1995 weer onder aandacht | De Texelse Courant – 24/7 Nieuws van het eiland))

This was a man who almost certainly belonged to a yacht that was washed ashore three weeks earlier on the sandbank near Texel.

INHO once it is established who the man was, it also becomes clear if indeed he belonged to the boat. (He probably did.)

 

[dotr]

Laatste hoop in zaak verdronken schipper

Investigation into the mystery of the Razende Bol reopened
Last hope in case of drowned skipper

Den Helder - Who is the drowned skipper of the Razende Bol? For more than two decades the police have been in the dark about the identity of the person who washed ashore drowned on the sandbank southwest of Texel in the summer of 1995. The Maritime Police Team in Den Helder has now reopened the case as a 'cold case'. "We want to give this victim his name back."

There wasn't much left of the sailboat. It was half buried under the sand, the deck shattered. Probably beachcombers had already taken away materials from it when it was discovered by another beachcomber on June 24, 1995. There was nothing to tell where the boat came from nor who the owner was. A Swedish sticker on the aluminium mast was the only clue for the police. The torn sail was no help either. There were the letters HB1 on it, but it was not possible to tell where the wreck came from.

Three weeks after the discovery of the boat, a pilot in a sports plane flew over De Razende Bol to spot seals. On the beach on the south side he noticed the skipper's corpse. Section on the body indicated that the man had probably drowned four weeks earlier.

The man was about one metre seventy-five in length, wore blue jeans, a grey sweater and white sneakers. He was also wearing a Seiko sailing watch that was made for the Swedish market in 1985. Although the police thoroughly investigated all traces, the identity of the man was not clarified. Because he had not been reported missing anywhere, the suspicion arose that the man must have been a Swedish freebooter who possibly led a vagrant life. The case was brought to the attention of the police in Norway and Sweden. The Swedish variant of Investigation Requested even paid attention, all without result.

The Maritime Police in Den Helder has now reopened the case as a so-called cold case. The focus is still on identifying the man. Among other things, they are looking for beachcombers who were the first to arrive at the shipwreck at the time. "It is possible that someone may have taken something with them that might indicate where the boat came from," according to investigator John Welzenbagh. "Maybe ID cards or bank cards, or other proof of identity was found at the time. That is why we ask anyone who took anything to come forward. They don't have to worry, we won't prosecute them."

The shipwreck of De Razende Bol, including the mast, is currently in the Maritime and Beachcombers Museum (Kaap Skil) in the Texelse Oudeschild. "It would be nice if after 21 years we could finally give a name to the grave of this unknown skipper," Welzenbagh says. "I hope that we can then remove any uncertainty for his next of kin, so that they too know what happened to him at the time."


BBM


The description of the clothing is a bit off, don't give it too much attention.

According to the Texelse Courant
Wrak uit 1995 weer onder aandacht | De Texelse Courant – 24/7 Nieuws van het eiland))

This was a man who almost certainly belonged to a yacht that was washed ashore three weeks earlier on the sandbank near Texel.

INHO once it is established who tha man was, it also becomes clear if indeed he belonged to the boat. (He probably did.)

Thanks ZaZara, my fingers were getting tired hanging on to that cliff!

 

[YaYa_521]

Here's a comparison of the watch and "tattoo".

 

[YaYa_521]

Thanks, ZaZara, my fingers were getting tired hanging on to that cliff!

 

[annemc2]

Look at the metal watch strap.

I think this waffle-like mark is an imprint from this......perhaps his body was lying with arm beneath him after being washed up?

The blue discolouration may be due to the metal corroding in the seawater. If you look at the metal watch strap there are signs of corrosion.

Niiiice! That's got to be it. Waffle mystery solved!

 

[Bit of hope]

Look at the metal watch strap.

I think this waffle-like mark is an imprint from this......perhaps his body was lying with arm beneath him after being washed up?

The blue discolouration may be due to the metal corroding in the seawater. If you look at the metal watch strap there are signs of corrosion.

A sharp observation. I think you are right.

 

[Bit of hope]

Thanks ZaZara, my fingers were getting tired hanging on to that cliff!

Laatste hoop in zaak verdronken schipper

Investigation into the mystery of the Razende Bol reopened
Last hope in case of drowned skipper

Den Helder - Who is the drowned skipper of the Razende Bol? For more than two decades the police have been in the dark about the identity of the person who washed ashore drowned on the sandbank southwest of Texel in the summer of 1995. The Maritime Police Team in Den Helder has now reopened the case as a 'cold case'. "We want to give this victim his name back."

There wasn't much left of the sailboat. It was half buried under the sand, the deck shattered. Probably beachcombers had already taken away materials from it when it was discovered by another beachcomber on June 24, 1995. There was nothing to tell where the boat came from nor who the owner was. A Swedish sticker on the aluminium mast was the only clue for the police. The torn sail was no help either. There were the letters HB1 on it, but it was not possible to tell where the wreck came from.

Three weeks after the discovery of the boat, a pilot in a sports plane flew over De Razende Bol to spot seals. On the beach on the south side he noticed the skipper's corpse. Section on the body indicated that the man had probably drowned four weeks earlier.

The man was about one metre seventy-five in length, wore blue jeans, a grey sweater and white sneakers. He was also wearing a Seiko sailing watch that was made for the Swedish market in 1985. Although the police thoroughly investigated all traces, the identity of the man was not clarified. Because he had not been reported missing anywhere, the suspicion arose that the man must have been a Swedish freebooter who possibly led a vagrant life. The case was brought to the attention of the police in Norway and Sweden. The Swedish variant of Investigation Requested even paid attention, all without result.

The Maritime Police in Den Helder has now reopened the case as a so-called cold case. The focus is still on identifying the man. Among other things, they are looking for beachcombers who were the first to arrive at the shipwreck at the time. "It is possible that someone may have taken something with them that might indicate where the boat came from," according to investigator John Welzenbagh. "Maybe ID cards or bank cards, or other proof of identity was found at the time. That is why we ask anyone who took anything to come forward. They don't have to worry, we won't prosecute them."

The shipwreck of De Razende Bol, including the mast, is currently in the Maritime and Beachcombers Museum (Kaap Skil) in the Texelse Oudeschild. "It would be nice if after 21 years we could finally give a name to the grave of this unknown skipper," Welzenbagh says. "I hope that we can then remove any uncertainty for his next of kin, so that they too know what happened to him at the time."


BBM


The description of the clothing is a bit off, don't give it too much attention. Nor does the watch look like a sailing watch, whatever that may be. I see no indication that you may navigate with it for instance. I don't think you could either, with the technology of 1995.

According to the Texelse Courant
Wrak uit 1995 weer onder aandacht | De Texelse Courant – 24/7 Nieuws van het eiland))

This was a man who almost certainly belonged to a yacht that was washed ashore three weeks earlier on the sandbank near Texel.

INHO once it is established who the man was, it also becomes clear if indeed he belonged to the boat. (He probably did.)

Thanks! @ZaZara

 

[Bethan]

A sharp observation. I think you are right.

Thanks all.

Doesn’t add anything though to identifying this unfortunate lone sailor.

I see they have his DNA so I suppose we can hope that in time Genealogy might provide some answers.

Though I’m not sure how that works?
Presumably an investigator ( with the maritime police of Den Helder) would need to enter the sailor’s DNA into a database or several different databases and keep checking for matches.......& hopefully find a distant cousin?!

Sadly not something an amateur sleuth can do!
I’m sure they will have thought of it.

 

[Bit of hope]

You may find this interesting. Some snippets.

DNA-databank vermiste personen (database missing persons)

The DNA database for Missing Persons (DVP) aims to be able to identify (mortal remains of) unidentified persons through matches with missing persons. From a legal point of view, the DVP is part of the missing persons system that is managed by the National Bureau for Missing Persons of the National Police (LBVP). The NFI carries out DNA research on behalf of the LBVP, manages the DNA database for Missing Persons and also manages the cell material from which the DNA profiles are generated.

DNA profiles of unidentified individuals are compared with:

• 
  
  
  • The DNA profiles of other unidentified persons (to connect parts of the body found separately)
  • The DNA profiles of missing persons and / or their family members and the DNA profiles of known persons that are stored in the Dutch DNA database for criminal cases (to see whether this may lead to an identification)

International comparison
DNA profiles of missing persons and unidentified remains are also included in Interpol 's DNA database in Lyon. This is done on-line via the so-called DNA Gateway. International comparisons are also performed in this way. Relatives of missing persons cannot yet be included in this DNA database. Through the FastID project sponsored by the European Commission, Interpol, together with a number of other organizations, is building a new self-contained missing persons system containing a DNA module that can also include family members of missing persons.

Gebruik van genealogische DNA-databases voor forensisch onderzoek – NGV

Use of genealogical DNA databases for forensics

After the success of DNA techniques in the detection of dead objects, the possibilities offered by this method have been expanded in the Netherlands. There is even talk of setting up a national DNA database in which all Dutch citizens are registered. There are many advocates for this. But there are also a large number of experts who express themselves with great caution about the DNA technology in the detection. After all, as these investigations expand, they raise concerns about the involvement of the police in “DNA trawls” and “genetic stop and search techniques”. And because public DNA databases in the US are growing steadily, partly as a result of genealogy, and are accessible to law enforcement and forensic genealogists, researchers will soon be able to track down almost anyone,

“If you are a privacy fanatic this is super alarming. It means you have no privacy ”,. "On the other hand, if they don't have a problem with the police to use your family data to solve these cold cases, they might even consider this a good thing."

Part of the concern stems from the police's rapid embrace of family data linked to the DNA data profiles to track down criminals, aided by open-access DNA databases that did not exist a decade ago.

One of these is Florida-based GEDmatch, founded in 2010. GEDmatch allows genealogy enthusiasts to upload and share their DNA profiles made from commercial services such as Ancestry and 23andMe. The site offers special tools to help people find family members, and since it's free, it has grown rapidly - to over a million profiles. This data indeed turns out to be a goldmine for judicial investigations.

To solve a notorious case (deAngelo), the researchers reportedly collected 25 different family trees, possibly with a total of 1,000 individuals. Only one of these family trees ultimately contained the alleged serial rapist and murderer. But now researchers had information about all those other people. The detectives initially targeted two suspects other than DeAngelo and went as far as to get a court order to examine the DNA of one of them.But neither he nor any other man had DNA that matched the crime scene sample. . In a recent commentary, Fullerton and collaborator Rori Rohlfs argued that innocent bystanders can become entangled in forensic kinship investigation.

“These details, many of which only came to light after intensive press coverage. Concerns were expressed about the methods used (by the police) and the extent to which they exposed other innocent persons to harm related to unjustified privacy violations.

However, it won't be long, it is feared that police may track a large portion of the American population, at least those of European descent, with affiliation searches. This is because of a relatively large number of American Citizens of European descent a lot of genealogical and DNA data are available that make relationship research possible.

Yaniv Erlich and other scientists examined DNA data for 600,000 people of European descent and found that, in half of their searches, they could find a match with a third cousin or closer relative. “In the near future, virtually any American of European descent could be involved by this technique,” the researchers wrote. Open access DNA databases have a higher number of samples from European citizens

Researchers are increasingly turning to open access databases because of the limitations of existing FBI and state databases. Since these latter databases only contain genetic information from people who have ever been arrested or convicted of crimes, they are not representative of the entire US population. A survey of serial killers worldwide maintained by Radford University in Virginia - now 5,031 dating back to the 1900s - shows that 12.9 percent of American serial killers were never arrested before carrying out their murder cases. Hence, one looked after the genealogical databases, which were never intended for forensic research.

For researchers, federal and state DNA databases also have other limitations. Unlike GEDmatch, many of these government DNA databases were originally designed to help investigators identify and track down criminals. They do not target the relatives and DNA of related criminals involved. That is why restrictions were imposed in some US states on the use of genealogical databases in police investigations, partly because of privacy considerations.

Given the forensic kinship investigation through GEDmatch and similar sites, some legal experts say it is time for government regulation of these sites and how far justice can use them. “

After all, many people have no problems with the use of GEDmatch by the police to track down criminals. Many would even like to help the police with the provision of DNA material. However, recent history has shown that the police, some investigative / judicial officers and hackers all over the world use all kinds of databases to spy on people illegally, or also steal information in the business sphere. Do we want these databases to be publicly searched so that ANYONE can misuse them for ANY purpose?

There is also WS thread about this theme. There I posted an item about the state of affairs in using forensic genealogical research in the Netherlands. I have to search for it..........

 

[Bethan]

@Bit of hope ......Many thanks for that info. An interesting read & gives me hope that maybe one day our lonely sailor will be identified.

 

[Bethan]

Thinking you are right!

• 
• 
• Den Helder, Razende Bol | politie.nl

ALSO ( & I just thought of this!) the watch strap was too big for him, hence the bit if string to save losing it when sailing.

The watch slipped down, which is why the imprint was on the back of his hand, rather than on his wrist where you’d expect a mark from a watch to be!,

 

[Bethan]

ALSO ( & I just thought of this!) the watch strap was too big for him, hence the bit if string to save losing it when sailing.

The watch slipped down, which is why the imprint was on the back of his hand, rather than on his wrist where you’d expect a mark from a watch to be!,

......which also suggests the watch didn’t originally belong to him....maybe inherited from a relative or bought 2nd hand or acquired when he acquired the mast ( with the Swedish stamp on it)

....or he’d lost a great deal of weight ( less likely to me)

We’ve seen that he was into DIY repairs, perhaps to save money, or just the type of man who took a pride in ‘making do’ with what he had & not waste money eg the home repair on the shoe. Hence the string on the watchstrap, rather than having the bracelet altered to fit his wrist.

Also suggests to me that the watch wasn’t of great sentimental value ( eg a dead grandfather’s) and don’t think he’d have worn it when sailing had this been the case.

None of which really helps.

Someone who has connections to Herne Bay in Norfolk, England & also Sweden. It’s been looked into & no response from Herne Bay sailing club.

Maybe someone who bought a 2nd hand sail from Herne Bay, mast from Sweden?

Maybe this needs raising again with Herne Bay Sailing Club & getting them to contact former or retired members, or contact the families of deceased members

 

[Bethan]

Oh my goodness......just found a connection........!
I might be on to something very significant here!


Watch this space.....!

 

[Bit of hope]

Oh my goodness......just found a connection........!
I might be on to something very significant here!


Watch this space.....!

? sorry....I miss something. @Bethan

 

[Bit of hope]

......which also suggests the watch didn’t originally belong to him....maybe inherited from a relative or bought 2nd hand or acquired when he acquired the mast ( with the Swedish stamp on it)

....or he’d lost a great deal of weight ( less likely to me)

We’ve seen that he was into DIY repairs, perhaps to save money, or just the type of man who took a pride in ‘making do’ with what he had & not waste money eg the home repair on the shoe. Hence the string on the watchstrap, rather than having the bracelet altered to fit his wrist.

Also suggests to me that the watch wasn’t of great sentimental value ( eg a dead grandfather’s) and don’t think he’d have worn it when sailing had this been the case.

None of which really helps.

Someone who has connections to Herne Bay in Norfolk, England & also Sweden. It’s been looked into & no response from Herne Bay sailing club.

Maybe someone who bought a 2nd hand sail from Herne Bay, mast from Sweden?

Maybe this needs raising again with Herne Bay Sailing Club & getting them to contact former or retired members, or contact the families of deceased members

Good thoughts. It could also be that the watch strap closure wasn't working properly anymore and he used the string for safety when it came of?? If it was to big and it slides down it would be in this direction.





Does it still fit the pattern? I tried to figger it out put it's so hard to see. Somehow it looks turned.....

 

[dotr]

You may find this interesting. Some snippets.

There is also WS thread about this theme. There I posted an item about the state of affairs in using forensic genealogical research in the Netherlands. I have to search for it..........

Rbsbm.
This post?
DNA Solves Cold Cases/Parabon Nanolabs & GED/Match."]DNA Solves Cold Cases/Parabon Nanolabs & GED/Match