Australia NSW - Central Coast, Jawbone found at Umina Beach, could be teen who drowned in '40s, Jun '20

[iamshadow21]

Mystery of blackened human jawbone found on NSW beach one step closer to being solved

Emeritus Professor Richard Wright, an anthropologist, told the ABC he found a newspaper article detailing the drowning of a 15-year-old boy near Umina Beach at Ettalong in 1940.

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"They're seeing if they can get a match with the DNA extracted from the mandible and one of the relatives that are alive now."



Earlier article:

Mystery surrounds human jawbone discovery on beach

Police are checking the missing person's registry and hope the jaw structure and teeth will give clues to its age.

"We don't know whether it's 12 months old or 100 years old, we just have to keep an open mind," Chief Inspector Laksa said.

 

[iamshadow21]

Teenage shark attack victim from 1934 the latest theory in NSW beach jawbone mystery

A new theory is being considered in a mystery surrounding a blackened human jawbone that was discovered on a New South Wales central coast beach.

The mandible was found on Umina Beach by a local resident exactly three years ago on June 11, 2020.

Police and experts from across Australia have since been trying to unravel the mystery of who the bone belonged to.

The latest theory suggested it could have come from 14-year-old Roy Inman, who was taken by a shark while swimming in the area in 1934.

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If the DNA tests from Donald Montgomery's relatives came back negative, the Roy Inman theory would be explored further.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Thanks @iamshadow21 !

Link from the story, Newspaper account at the time.

BOY TAKEN BY SHARK AT WOY WOY - FIN CUTS SISTER'S LEG SYDNEY, December 23 - The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954) - 24 Dec 1934

Roy Inman (14), of "Concord, was taken by a shark at Horsfield's Bay, Brisbane water, about a mile from Woy Woy, before his sister's eyes this afternoon. The boy's head appeared once above the surface. Then the shark ...

trove.nla.gov.au

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Tragic 44-year-old mystery solved after jawbone found on Aussie beach

Police have revealed who the jawbone once belonged to, years after a dog walker stumbled across it on a popular beach.

au.news.yahoo.com

Australian police have finally cracked the case into who formerly owned a jawbone that mysteriously washed ashore on a popular Aussie beach in mid 2020.

Detectives say after extensive enquiries, and thanks to the use of upgraded "DNA analysis techniques" they were able to determine the jawbone belonged to a teenager who accidentally drowned in 1980 — nearly half a century ago.

"A voluntary sample was given from a relative and following further DNA analysis, the bone was confirmed to be that of Henry Coleman, who died aged 17, following an accidental drowning on the Central Coast in August 1980," NSW Police said in a statement on Sunday.

Henry was laid to rest back in the '80s, though it wasn't known at the time that he was missing part of his jaw.