A nameless grave serves as a stark reminder of the long search for answers over the unexplained death of a young man on a Cornish clifftop. His body was discovered on the cliffs of Tregantle in January of 1982 and his identity remains a complete mystery.
In Horson Cemetery, Torpoint, one grave remembers the young man known simply and heartbreakingly as ‘some mother’s son’. He shares the yard with 65 burials of those killed in an air attack on HMS Raleigh, on 28 April 1941.
Outside of his estimated age, between 25 and 30, little is known about the man and his identity was never uncovered after he died in the 80s. While his death was not suspicious, nor was it believed he took his own life, people have long been hoping for some answers as to who he was and what brought him to this part of the West Country.
A mother herself, Lynne Matthews, has long visited the grave to pay her respects. Mum-of-one Lynne regularly walks through the cemetery, situated in the middle of a popular dog walking spot, as previously reported by PlymouthLive.
She’s just one of many hoping that answers will be found in their lifetime. Simon Owens, who makes YouTube videos about unidentified bodies, says he too would like to find the identity of the gentleman as well as follow up on other unidentified bodies in the area.
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“It is thought that he wasn’t local to the area as well, said Mr Owens. “At the moment I’m assuming his appearance was Caucasian and that he could have gone missing in the late 1970s to early 1980s and it could be that friends and family of this gentleman could have been looking for him for the past 40 years plus.”
According to a ‘sparse coroner’s report’ he was aged between 25 and 30 years old and astonishingly he had been dead for around four years before being found.
Mother-of-one Lynne Matthews has spent years wondering about the unidentified grave
The report ruled out foul play and the coroner didn’t believe it was suicide, recording a death by natural, albeit unexplained, causes. It was thought to be probable he may have laid down for shelter and sadly died of exposure.
Ms Matthews said back in 2021: “I think I’m looking for a needle in a haystack. I’ve looked for missing persons of that time and there’s nobody I can connect, but he might not have any family.
“I was nine when he was found, there was nothing to identify him but they didn’t think he was local. If it was someone in Scotland they wouldn’t have known.”