Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast
Speaker 1: dedicated to missing people, unresolved cases and UK true crime.
Speaker 1: Today is day six of missing person episodes throughout December.
Speaker 1: Today we're going to be looking at the case of
Speaker 1: an unidentified person who has remained this way since nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy nine. I'm extremely passionate about covering the cases of
Speaker 1: unidentified people and always believes that they need more publicity.
Speaker 1: A lot of the information I've used today has come
Speaker 1: through the Locate International website as well as the UK
Speaker 1: Missing Person's database. This episode is about an unidentified person
Speaker 1: and so does not contain any descriptions of violence. However,
Speaker 1: listener discretion is always advised. Riola Forest is in the
Speaker 1: County of Neathport Talbot in the southwest of Wales. Is
Speaker 1: located to the north of the Vale of Neath and
Speaker 1: it's named after the small settlement that's grown up around
Speaker 1: the area. On the ninth of December nineteen seventy nine,
Speaker 1: scaltal remains were found within the Riola Forest. As these
Speaker 1: remains were skeletal, investigators struggled to find out much about
Speaker 1: who this man was. The investigators were able to ascertain
Speaker 1: that he was around forty to sixty years old, and
Speaker 1: he was about five feet eight to five feet ten
Speaker 1: inches tall. When he was alive, he would have had
Speaker 1: a stocky build. Even though these were only skeletal remains,
Speaker 1: investigators were able to find out quite a lot about
Speaker 1: what the man looked like. He had sharp, mixed light
Speaker 1: brown hair with some gray streaks. They discovered that he
Speaker 1: may have worn dentures, as there were no teeth visible
Speaker 1: when he was found. Like with many unidentified person cases,
Speaker 1: there is often not much to be discovered from these remains. However,
Speaker 1: there was one quite noticeable and identifiable feature. The man
Speaker 1: would have walked with a very pronounced limp due to
Speaker 1: his right leg being unable to bend due to a
Speaker 1: fused knee. For anyone that might have known this man
Speaker 1: at any point, they may recognize this as it would
Speaker 1: have been something quite specific. Aside from the man's physical features,
Speaker 1: we do actually know quite a bit about his belongings,
Speaker 1: as many things were found close to the man's remains.
Speaker 1: He had a hold all with him, as well as
Speaker 1: a brown imitation leather briefcase. He also had gray trousers,
Speaker 1: two shirts, and a pair of green socks. It was
Speaker 1: documents that were found close to the remains, however, that
Speaker 1: have given the investigators the most clues as to where
Speaker 1: the man might have been before he passed away. The
Speaker 1: man had with him a Salvation Testament Bible which had
Speaker 1: the name D. Mallon, along with a po box in Randburg,
Speaker 1: Johannesburg in South Africa. This was one indication that there
Speaker 1: was some sort of connection to South Africa. However, there
Speaker 1: were also more clues that this was the case. He
Speaker 1: also had a commemorative bookmark dated nineteen sixty from the
Speaker 1: Roads Varsity Trekkers Eastern Mission in King Williamstown which is
Speaker 1: now known as Quance. Another key piece of evidence was
Speaker 1: a nineteen seventy seven flight timetable from London to Johannesburg
Speaker 1: with South African Airways. Another connection to flying was also
Speaker 1: found with his belongings, as he had an air mail
Speaker 1: envelope on which he'd written information about a possible internal
Speaker 1: flight to Durban. This handwriting seems to match the handwriting
Speaker 1: which was found inside the Salvation Bible. It would seem
Speaker 1: that the man may have made the flight to Heathrow
Speaker 1: as the timetable suggested, as he also had some branded
Speaker 1: notepaper from the Sheraton Hotel at Heathrow Airport. This was
Speaker 1: blank with nothing recorded on it. All of these belongings
Speaker 1: suggest that this man had come from South Africa to Heathrow. However,
Speaker 1: why he did that or for what purpose was more
Speaker 1: of a mystery. Given the bookmark found from nineteen sixty,
Speaker 1: the man was either from South Africa or visited there
Speaker 1: extremely regularly. There were also indications that the man traveled regularly, though,
Speaker 1: as he had some US and Canadian coins with him,
Speaker 1: suggesting that he'd visited those country before or recently. It
Speaker 1: appears that from Heathrow he then at some point traveled
Speaker 1: up to Wales, where he was found. He also had
Speaker 1: with him a map of Wales and the Southwest, which
Speaker 1: was issued by the Welsh Tourist Board. It seems as
Speaker 1: though the man had intended on coming to Wales for
Speaker 1: his trip, but again, for what purpose and when this
Speaker 1: happened is unknown. From information that we do have, it
Speaker 1: appears that investigators may believe the man was in the
Speaker 1: area in nineteen seventy eight, and the medical report states
Speaker 1: that he could have died between nine and eighteen months
Speaker 1: before he was discovered. Well Kate International have compiled a
Speaker 1: list of questions which may help jog the public's memory
Speaker 1: of the man, despite how long has gone by since
Speaker 1: the discovery of his remains. Do you remember someone fitting
Speaker 1: this description in South Wales in or around nineteen seventy eight?
Speaker 1: Were you the owner of a bed and breakfast our
Speaker 1: guest house at that time and have a record or
Speaker 1: even a memory of this man as a guest in
Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight, regardless of how vague. Did you work
Speaker 1: in a hotel during the late nineteen seventies and remember
Speaker 1: a visitor leaving behind possessions? What happened to those possessions?
Speaker 1: Did you drive a taxi in the mid to late
Speaker 1: seventies Was this man a passenger in your cab? Were
Speaker 1: you a chapelgoer in South Wales and the Vale of
Speaker 1: Neath in particular during this period and remember someone fitting
Speaker 1: this description, even if it was just once. Did you
Speaker 1: work in the mining industry during the mid to late
Speaker 1: nineteen seventies and possibly meet this man in your line
Speaker 1: of work? Do you remember someone who was from South
Speaker 1: Africa or who spoke of South Africa who walks with
Speaker 1: a heavy limp. Were you involved in the anti apartheid movement.
Speaker 1: Some prominent members lived near Resolve in Wales after leaving
Speaker 1: South Africa. Did you work in the nineteen seventies with
Speaker 1: organizations concerned with the rehabilitation of prisons? And do you
Speaker 1: recall a South African working for such an organization? These
Speaker 1: questions do give us some indication about possible theories for
Speaker 1: why the man was in the area. The questions do
Speaker 1: give us some indication about possible theories for why the
Speaker 1: man was in the area. The question about the anti
Speaker 1: apartheid movement may suggest that the man may have known
Speaker 1: some people in the area of Resolvin, which is not
Speaker 1: far from where the remains were found, had he come
Speaker 1: over to visit someone he knew from South Africa. The
Speaker 1: fact that they wanted to speak to any churchgoers also
Speaker 1: suggest that this man may have had religious connections. Like
Speaker 1: many unidentified person cases, there is never much to go on,
Speaker 1: but actually in this case, his many belongings do paint
Speaker 1: a picture of a man who was well traveled, organized
Speaker 1: with his plans, and in possession of a way to
Speaker 1: support himself. Someone must have known this man, either in
Speaker 1: the UK or in South Africa, and this must ring
Speaker 1: some bells to some one. Please share this information with
Speaker 1: anyone you think may know something, and if you do
Speaker 1: know something, please contact either Locate International or the Missing
Speaker 1: Person's UK Database. I will link both of these in
Speaker 1: the show notes. Thank you for listening to day six
Speaker 1: of twelve Days of Missing Person Episodes in December. Stay
Speaker 1: tuned for Day seven in a couple of days. If
Speaker 1: you'd like to support the podcast further, then you can
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Speaker 1: link in the show notes to visit Patreon and see
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Speaker 1: share the episodes as our ways. I'm Caprice and this
Speaker 1: has been unseen the