UK UK - Greater London, WhtMale 20 - 30, Found In A Children's Playground, Jul'70

[Interested_But_Confused]

The information available has made it difficult to identify exactly where SSM fell from and where he was found. However, it's believed that he fell at or close to the slight kink in the Stamford Street Apartments close to the dogleg in Secker Street and where you can see vegetation climbing up the wall. The surroundings of the church were originally its churchyard but at the time in question the area north of the church was a bare playground which has since been turned back into a green space. The church itself was not used for worship at the time but was largely used for concerts of classical music and similar events.

The area has changed somewhat in the past 55 years, or at least the buildings that were there in 1970 generally remain but their use has changed. In 1970, what is now the SSA student residence contained the printing works used for Reveille, a weekly tabloid newspaper (Reveille (newspaper) - Wikipedia) which closed many years ago. The red brick and white building surrounded by Secker Street, Exton Street and Cornwall Road was occupied, at least in part, by the Union Jack Club, which provided social, welfare and support services to members of the armed forced. This too, is now student accommodation.

Thank you for the confirmation, at least to the extent it can be confirmed. If you saw my subsequent posts, the area next to what is now the Stamford Street Apartment is the area I had narrowed it down to. Thankfully, other than renovations and changes of use, the general area and buildings seem to be mostly unchanged.

I'm particularly interested by the detail in the article I posted about SSM having printing ink smeared on his arms. That strongly suggests he was inside the print works/warehouse and went to the roof through the building. IMO it almost sounds like someone with ink on their hands might have grabbed his arms.

Workers at the plant supposedly plead ignorance, saying they didn't recognise him and had never seen him. But the detail about the ink on his arms makes me wonder if they were all being truthful...

 

[Beekarina]

Thank you for the confirmation, at least to the extent it can be confirmed. If you saw my subsequent posts, the area next to what is now the Stamford Street Apartment is the area I had narrowed it down to. Thankfully, other than renovations and changes of use, the general area and buildings seem to be mostly unchanged.

I'm particularly interested by the detail in the article I posted about SSM having printing ink smeared on his arms. That strongly suggests he was inside the print works/warehouse and went to the roof through the building. IMO it almost sounds like someone with ink on their hands might have grabbed his arms.

Workers at the plant supposedly plead ignorance, saying they didn't recognise him and had never seen him. But the detail about the ink on his arms makes me wonder if they were all being truthful...

Is there any sort of guest access/share with a friend type of access to the article? I would love to read the entirety, but it seems paywalled?

Thank you!

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Is there any sort of guest access/share with a friend type of access to the article? I would love to read the entirety, but it seems paywalled?

Thank you!

Unfortunately not, but it isn't a very long article.

Paraphrasing, it says SSM was believed to be approximately 25, was found at the foot of a high wall, and was believed to have fallen 60ft from the roof of the printing plant overlooking the playground.

He was wearing blue jeans, a sweatshirt and chukka boots, and had a return ticket to Farnborough in his pocket.

The police found smears of printing ink on his arms, and checked to make sure none of the plant's workers were missing. Nobody at the plant knew anything about him.

The police went door-to-door asking if anybody saw or heard anything overnight.

He was first noticed by the wife of a caretaker at a local training centre, who called the police after she looked out of her kitchen window and saw SSM "spreadeagled" on the ground.

 

[Beekarina]

Unfortunately not, but it isn't a very long article.

Paraphrasing, it says SSM was believed to be approximately 25, was found at the foot of a high wall, and was believed to have fallen 60ft from the roof of the printing plant overlooking the playground.

He was wearing blue jeans, a sweatshirt and chukka boots, and had a return ticket to Farnborough in his pocket.

The police found smears of printing ink on his arms, and checked to make sure none of the plant's workers were missing. Nobody at the plant knew anything about him.

The police went door-to-door asking if anybody saw or heard anything overnight.

He was first noticed by the wife of a caretaker at a local training centre, who called the police after she looked out of her kitchen window and saw SSM "spreadeagled" on the ground.

Thank you so much!

Curious the outfit is so different from what is listed elsewhere. What are everyone's thoughts about this:

"He was wearing blue jeans, a sweatshirt and chukka boots, and had a return ticket to Farnborough in his pocket."

We have him otherwise in green canvas Converse type sneakers, a beige pullover jumper and purple trousers (some bell-bottomed lesire slacks were shown here as an example.)

I'm perplexed.

 

[Beekarina]

Is there anything he could have been up to in the printworks/warehouse? What went on there specifically? Do we know more about it? That is, if he was not a worker?

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Thank you so much!

Curious the outfit is so different from what is listed elsewhere. What are everyone's thoughts about this:

"He was wearing blue jeans, a sweatshirt and chukka boots, and had a return ticket to Farnborough in his pocket."

We have him otherwise in green canvas Converse type sneakers, a beige pullover jumper and purple trousers (some bell-bottomed lesire slacks were shown here as an example.)

I'm perplexed.

I wondered about the inconsistency in the clothing description myself.

Possibly the reporter saw the body from a distance before it was removed, and described the clothing to the best of their recollection?

Blue jeans vs purple bell-bottoms is a pretty big discrepancy. But if you search for "green chukka shoes" on Google you get everything from dress shoes to Vans:

green chukka shoes - Google Search

 

[Beekarina]

Vintage US Navy boots from that era are also chukkas. Or "Boondockers".

The US Navy also wore canvas shoes in the 1960s similar to ones pictured, but I do not think they would have been green? Maybe the Army would have had green, or perhaps totally unrelated but again just thinking of Doug still or someone like him.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Thank you so much!

Curious the outfit is so different from what is listed elsewhere. What are everyone's thoughts about this:

"He was wearing blue jeans, a sweatshirt and chukka boots, and had a return ticket to Farnborough in his pocket."

We have him otherwise in green canvas Converse type sneakers, a beige pullover jumper and purple trousers (some bell-bottomed lesire slacks were shown here as an example.)

I'm perplexed.

The clothing description used, both in research and for the appeal, is that listed on the Police's missing persons website, as summarised by Hochman at the start of this thread. The images provided should not be taken too literally but are intended to be indicative of the sort of clothing he might have been wearing given fashion at the time and what brands were available in the UK. Locate has no photographs of the clothing and no description other than that provided by the police. Where there appears to be a discrepancy between that and what was reported in individual papers, it's likely that any discrepancy is down either to early confusion or to mistaken reporting by the journalist.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Is there anything he could have been up to in the printworks/warehouse? What went on there specifically? Do we know more about it? That is, if he was not a worker?

No idea. Clearly, in order to fall from the roof he must have gained access to it, almost certainly via the building itself. Security in most workplaces would have been much less stringent than it is today, and with the noise from the printing presses it's possible that he could have accessed the building and moved around without drawing attention to himself.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Hochman's original post seems to be quoting the UK Missing Persons Unit (though the link in the OP is broken). But a later post with an updated link gives conflicting information.

In the OP, it says (RSBM):

Clothing (Reworded)
- Green Canvas Shoes
- Beige Crew Neck Jumper
- Purple Trousers

But in the later updated link for the UK Missing Persons Unit it says this:

https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/cases/case-14-000720

Clothing
- Footwear - Shoes - Unknown - Canvas
- Jumper - Crew neck - Unknown
- Trousers - Unknown - Unknown

The current UKMPU website appears to have less detailed information than the earlier version.

If the information about SSM wearing green canvas shoes and purple trousers originally came from the police, I wonder why that information has now been removed.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Hochman's original post seems to be quoting the UK Missing Persons Unit (though the link in the OP is broken). But a later post with an updated link gives conflicting information.

In the OP, it says (RSBM):

But in the later updated link for the UK Missing Persons Unit it says this:

https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/cases/case-14-000720

The current UKMPU website appears to have less detailed information than the earlier version.

If the information about SSM wearing green canvas shoes and purple trousers originally came from the police, I wonder why that information has now been removed.

Unfortunately there's not a lot Locate's investigation teams can do about the police or other official bodies changing published information. To date, Locate has not had access to police or coroners' filed relating to cases and has had to rely on whatever information has been publicly available. Sometimes that information changes or is contradictory.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Unfortunately there's not a lot Locate's investigation teams can do about the police or other official bodies changing published information. To date, Locate has not had access to police or coroners' filed relating to cases and has had to rely on whatever information has been publicly available. Sometimes that information changes or is contradictory.

Please don't think I'm being critical of your efforts. I apologise if it came across that way.

I'm just a little concerned that we may have even less information regarding this gentleman than we thought we did.

The police said he was wearing green canvas shoes, a beige crew neck and purple trousers, but have since updated their information to say simply canvas shoes, a crew neck and trousers, with no colour information. Meanwhile, an article written on the day of the man's death--seemingly by a reporter who was on the scene and may have seen the body--says blue jeans and chukka boots.

Canvas shoes and chukka boots aren't necessarily contradictory, because chukka boots can be made from canvas. Purple trousers and blue jeans may also not be entirely contradictory if the trousers were something like deep indigo, which often has a purplish hue.

But from the standpoint of making an appeal for anyone who may have known SSM, it seems like "green canvas shoes and purple trousers" is a lot more distinctive and memorable than "olive canvas shoes and blue/purple jeans." Yet both descriptions could, at least theoretically, be describing the same outfit.

The only people who could potentially clarify would be the police, if they have photos of what he was wearing. But I'm guessing they probably would have released them by now.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Please don't think I'm being critical of your efforts. I apologise if it came across that way.

I didn't take your comments as criticism, so no need to apologise.

The only people who could potentially clarify would be the police, if they have photos of what he was wearing. But I'm guessing they probably would have released them by now.

Not necessarily. Government in the UK has had a culture of secrecy going back well over a century to the various Official Secrets Acts, and I suspect that this has a profound effect on attitudes in the public sector, including the police, even today.

Going back to 1970, many police forces in the UK were far less professional and less well trained than they are today. The Metropolitan Police, covering virtually all of Greater London, was by far the largest and most professional force in the country, but in other areas policing had been historically much more fragmented. Many towns and boroughs had a local constabulary which essentially dealt with motoring offences, muggings, drunk and disorderly and similar crimes - hence the need to "call in the Yard" to deal with murders and other serious crimes such as armed robbery. These local forces underwent a series of amalgamations into the modern county-based forces which was largely complete by the 1960s. That's no doubt an over simplification, but it helps to explain why these old cases were not generally dealt with at the time to the standards we expect today.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I didn't take your comments as criticism, so no need to apologise.

Not necessarily. Government in the UK has had a culture of secrecy going back well over a century to the various Official Secrets Acts, and I suspect that this has a profound effect on attitudes in the public sector, including the police, even today.

Going back to 1970, many police forces in the UK were far less professional and less well trained than they are today. The Metropolitan Police, covering virtually all of Greater London, was by far the largest and most professional force in the country, but in other areas policing had been historically much more fragmented. Many towns and boroughs had a local constabulary which essentially dealt with motoring offences, muggings, drunk and disorderly and similar crimes - hence the need to "call in the Yard" to deal with murders and other serious crimes such as armed robbery. These local forces underwent a series of amalgamations into the modern county-based forces which was largely complete by the 1960s. That's no doubt an over simplification, but it helps to explain why these old cases were not generally dealt with at the time to the standards we expect today.

When I searched the British Newspaper Archive for articles, the single short article I previously linked to was the only one I found about SSM. Sadly, outside of the immediate area and that day's newspaper, it seems he didn't get very much attention at the time.

Do you think it's likely that the police thought he either took his own life or had a drunken accident, and therefore didn't investigate as thoroughly as they might have if they thought his death was suspicious?

To me the ink on his arms does sound potentially suspicious, but of course we know so little about the full circumstances.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

When I searched the British Newspaper Archive for articles, the single short article I previously linked to was the only one I found about SSM. Sadly, outside of the immediate area and that day's newspaper, it seems he didn't get very much attention at the time.

I think we need to look at the much more fragmented nature of the media at that time. Local newspapers were much more important than they are today (obviously) for disseminating local news to people in a locality, but I suspect that a case like this was forgotten once the local rag had been wrapped around the following night's fish and chips. It's possible that "do you know this man?" posters were displayed on noticeboards in the public areas of local police stations for some time after he was found but eventually they would have been superseded

Do you think it's likely that the police thought he either took his own life or had a drunken accident, and therefore didn't investigate as thoroughly as they might have if they thought his death was suspicious?

Without seeing the police's report of the incident there's no way of knowing. It was reported that he had alcohol in his system but that could mean anything from one or two pints to a skinful.

To me the ink on his arms does sound potentially suspicious, but of course we know so little about the full circumstances.

It appears that we have only one source for this, and that is not an official police source, so I'm very much on the fence about it. If there was ink, it would presumably have been on the sleeve(s) of his clothing rather than on his actual arms. We could speculate on how he might have come into contact with it, eg by brushing against a stairwell handrail which a printer had run his inky hand along, but if he genuinely had ink on his arms then that raises other questions.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I've been looking at the PM photograph from the UKMPU website and a few things struck me:

• SSM's hair doesn't appear to be particularly short IMO. In the PM photo his hair is swept back off his face but looks maybe two or three inches long at least. It's almost a quiff/ducktail.
• He looks like he could be barely older than a teenager.
• Given the bruises and grazes on his face, and some of his teeth looking broken, I wonder if the gap between his teeth was always there or if it might be a result of the fall.

Spoiler: Post-Mortem Photograph

 

[Beekarina]

The diastema looks natural to me. I have one.

I also agree he looks young. I have gone back and forth on this myself, but I have also looked at a fair number of morgue photos here over my time as a member, and also have seen a relative when they were recently passed and there is sometimes an almost peacefulness to the faces. I know this sounds a bit odd, but hopefully others know what I mean? I'm not sure if it is muscles relaxing, or something else, but some people do almost appear to be sleeping and at peace, and they look younger than their age as a result.

I do not think his hair is short like a buzz cut, but it is not particularly long. I also assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that it may have been combed back off from his face so all of his features would show in the photo?

Also wanted to say the information and confusion around his clothing is all interesting to me. I'm not sure how much it really matters given how much time has passed. For me, it is more that the purple bellbottoms paired with bright green sneakers seems a bit more of a "groovy" fashion choice than jeans, a plain jumper or "sweatshirt" and possibly olive chukka boots. The same young man could certainly own and wear both sorts of outfits, but one seems a bit more rugged and the other I picture someone more likely to have been out for a night on the town or something. The jeans and a plain top says more "I blend in, no one will think of me" when I look at both objectively.

I may have a very overactive imagination but I even wondered could someone have tried to make themselves an ID at the printing place? What sort of National ID card, if any, was in circulation in the UK at the time? Was the warehouse section a place someone could have hid for a bit of they were homeless? ? DId they hire temporary workers to fill in shifts? Thinking perhaps this young man was a temp worker of some kind who had trouble with the regular workers? But then I would think a supervisor or someone would have known him?

It seems pretty odd to randomly be in a printing place and fall of the roof. I would think if he still had alcohol in his system 6 hours later, he was probably somewhat intoxicated? But perhaps not? DO we know anything about the level?

 

[Beekarina]

I made another attempt at a dental comparison since the UID's PM image above is larger than the one I had access to. Keep in mind Doug was smiling broadly in the image we have of his teeth, and the angle is a bit different so we see more of his teeth. I think the two have quite similar teeth. This may be coincidence, and of course it is not exact and we're not comparing two exact angles, but I find it interesting.

For me, it seems enough to see the diastema the UID has is natural. I do not think he lost any teeth from the front at least when he fell, or whatever else may have happened here.

I'm really curious what he was doing in a print works anyway? Based on his estimated time of death, we think he would have been there late at night? And probably drinking or after a night out? Why? And why on the roof? So weird, IMO.

 

[Beekarina]

I'm also trying to compare their ears, but the angles are different enough that I am not sure if the differences I see are chalked up to this, or proof they are not the same man or could be from injuries.

Always a bit frustrating, but I'm glad there is a good PM photo for this UID!

 

[Beekarina]

OK more thinking these are in fact two different people, even though the angles are not the same with Doug and the UID. Will keep searching though, this is a very compelling case.