The Mystery of 1992: The half a body found in the River that was never identified

It is not uncommon for people, unable to take anymore, to contemplate taking their own lives on Wearmouth Bridge.

Thankfully, on most occasions, the good people of Sunderland have helped save many lives of people in despair, and helped people get the help and support they need.

Still, support needs to be increased to prevent these sad occurrences.

But not everyone can be saved sadly, and the year of 1992 brought a mystery to Wearside where someone was found, but nobody spoke up for them.

In September 26th, 1992, a police recovered the “lower half” of a man’s body from the River Wear. It was already decomposed.

From forensic analysis, the man was aged between 55-65, and the body had been in the river for over a year.

Estimated to be around 5ft 4ins and 5ft 6ins tall, the corpse “was wearing brown pinstripe trousers, a white elasticated belt, dark coloured socks and Long Johns.”

In the pocket was a tin of Altoids Seriously Strong Peppermints, some cigarette papers and a black Bic biro pen with him.

Unfortunately, the man was never identified. No relatives or friends ever came forwards, and oddly enough, it was not correlated with any known missing person in that time period.

Who was the man found in the Wear? And why was he cut in half?

Sadly, the answer has been lost to time. We can only but wonder about who that poor soul was, and ensure that nobody else is ever forgotten like that.