Unidentified body – Gardai seek help

Gardai in Sligo have renewed their appeal to members of the public in their attempt to identify the body of a man found on Rosses Point beach on the morning of Tuesday June 16th.

Despite exhaustive Garda enquiries throughout Europe and the USA, the identity of the elderly man is still a mystery, meaning the man’s body may have to be buried in an unmarked grave in Sligo.

The man had booked into the Sligo City Hotel under the name Peter Bergman, with a false Austrian address, paying by cash in advance on June 12 after travelling from Derry.

The stricken man also cut off all the labels from his clothes in an apparent attempt to disguise his identity even further.

When he checked into the hotel, he was carrying a black computer type bag on his shoulder and a suit type carrier bag in his hand. Detective Inspector John O’Reilly said that he travelled around Sligo Town on foot and to and from Rosses Point by bus and by taxi.

He used a purple bag to take his clothing from the hotel and leave the clothes at various point’s around the town. When he came back to the hotel the bag was in his pocket but he seems to have discarded almost all of his clothes around the town.

But we do know from staff in the Sligo City Hotel that he posted a number of letters from the hotel and he posted them from Sligo Post Office on Saturday June 13 by air mail. Maybe somebody has received a letter from him subsequently.

Detective O’Reilly said Gardai had done a lot of searching through DNA databases and fingerprint files, and through the print media throughout Europe and the USA.

The officer also confirmed that the man was suffering from cancer which may have been preying on his mind.

He did have medication which was found in his clothes which were recovered from the beach. His clothes were neatly folded in a pile beside his remains.

When we found him he was wearing striped swimming trunks over his under-pants and a black tee shirt.

The medication which was found was manufactured in Europe but we were not able to establish anything further.

The man, who was suffering from cancer, has been lying in the morgue in Sligo General Hospital since the discovery of his body on June 16th.

If anybody knows of any information which may help the Gardai to identify the man, they should contact the Gardai in Sligo immediately on 00-353-71-91-57000.