Can you help identify the body in the playground?
New image released in bid to identify ‘Secker Street Man’ who may have had a link to Farnborough, Hampshire
A body in a children’s playground
A return ticket for a journey he never completed
A mystery still unresolved after 55 years
Early on Saturday 18 July 1970 - the body of a young man was found in a playground on Secker Street, near Waterloo station in south London.
It is thought he may have fallen from a nearby roof and, despite some clues left behind and substantial police investigations, he remains unidentified to this day.
We are releasing a new living depiction of the man, produced by forensic artist Hew Morrison in the hope that we can give him a name. Do you recognise him?
Secker Street, London, SE1 today
Cast your mind back to that weekend in July 1970….
What we know:
He was white, about 5’7” (170cm) tall and of stocky build
He had short fair hair and blue eyes
He had unusual/distinctively shaped upper teeth, including a Diastema (gap) between his upper top teeth (see photo)
He was aged between 20 and 30 years old
He was wearing green canvas shoes, a beige crewneck jumper and purple trousers
He was carrying a small amount of cash and had a return train ticket from Farnborough to London, issued the day before, on Friday 17 July
He is believed to have been dead for about six hours, suggesting he fell at some point overnight
The train ticket the man was carrying was purchased in Farnborough, from where trains arrive into Waterloo. Police investigations at the time did look into whether the man was stationed with the military there, but their investigations proved fruitless.
An example of the green canvas shoes, purple trousers and the return train ticket. Pictures for illustrative purposes only.
Questions you can ask yourself
We’re confident that after 55 years, Secker Street Man’s identity can be found thanks to just one person with one piece of information.
You may have elderly family, friends or neighbours who might be able to recall meeting or seeing him in the 1960s or before his death in 1970. If you could share our appeal with them or talk to them about this case, it may jog their memory. The smallest piece of information could solve this case.
Were you in the military based in or near Farnborough during the late 1960s and 1970, or know someone who was. Does the man look familiar?
It is thought that the man’s close-cropped hairstyle – unusual in the early 1970s – was popular with the gay community at the time. Do you recognise him? Maybe you were a hairdresser in Farnborough in the early 70s and remember this unusual style?
On the day after he travelled into the city, more than 100,000 people attended a free concert by Pink Floyd in Hyde Park. Was he planning to be one of them? Were you there, and did you intend to meet him there?
Our investigative team is also considering the possibility he may have been in prison near Farnborough, or was among people displaced from London to Farnborough in slum clearances. Do you recognise him from there?
Do you remember a colleague, room-mate, lodger or classmate disappearing inexplicably from Farnborough in 1970?
There is always hope, and you could be the person that makes the difference.
No matter how seemingly small the information you have, it really may be the answer we need. Information provided can be submitted anonymously, and submissions will be treated in confidence. Everything we receive will be reviewed by our dedicated team of volunteers.
Please do not use this form for emergency assistance in locating a person. Please call 999.