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uh1.com. Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. At Mint

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Full terms at mintmobile.com. The

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following series deals with issues around

2:14

unexplained deaths, trauma, and can discuss

2:16

issues of suicide. Please

2:19

take care when listening. A

2:31

young man thought to be no older than 30. Found

2:35

dead in Scotland. To

2:38

date, he's never been identified. John

2:46

Doe. A person without

2:48

a name, a life story which

2:50

has no ending. A

2:53

body lying on a post-mortem table. And

2:56

investigators searching for answers. Welcome

3:00

to your latest true crime obsession,

3:02

Big Saws, told in Bitesize

3:05

episodes which get straight to the heart

3:07

of the unusual circumstances and the

3:09

possible clues that could help identify

3:11

an unknown body. There

3:16

are around 1,000 people found in

3:18

the UK who cannot be identified. They

3:21

were mothers and daughters, fathers and

3:23

sons. Somebody somewhere will

3:26

likely be wondering what happened to him. In

3:29

this series, we present the pieces of

3:31

the mysterious jigsaw puzzle in the hope

3:33

that someone listening can piece them together.

3:37

So listen carefully as we present the clues.

3:40

Dust off your detective hat as we delve

3:42

into the coroner's case files and help

3:44

us dissect the details that

3:46

try and establish who they are. In

3:50

this episode, can we give a name to

3:52

the Balmoral Man? Brought

3:55

to you from the charity Locate International,

3:58

This is Chugso. Balmore

4:09

is a small village in East and

4:11

Badenshire, Scotland. Located

4:14

just to the north of Glasgow, it's a far cry

4:16

from the big city. It's

4:19

picturesque, rural and remote. A

4:22

river runs to the south and there's greenery all

4:25

around. It boasts two Roman

4:27

forts to its name, but

4:29

battles, death, mystery are

4:32

not really part of this landscape. However,

4:39

Balmore also presents us with

4:41

our first clue, the location,

4:44

because it was here that the body of

4:46

a gentleman now known only as the Balmore

4:49

Man was discovered in truly chilling circumstances. It's

4:54

October the 16th, 2011 and a local wildlife photographer

4:56

is adjusting his camera, the heather coming in and

4:58

out of focus. He's

5:01

in a large area of

5:03

woodland set back from a local golf course and he picks his

5:05

way across the spongy ground, occasionally wiping his

5:07

lens glass to remove the drops of water from Drombartenshire's

5:11

standard fare of misty drizzle. He

5:17

needs to be prepared for the next day. He

5:21

needs to find some normal shelter and

5:23

heads further into the trees for cover. The

5:28

photographer wanders into the Glen Orchard estate,

5:30

once owned by the Bartholomew family, but now

5:33

absorbed as part of the golf course. The

5:40

area he's exploring is overgrown and wild,

5:42

the opposite of the manicured fairways the

5:44

golfers frequent nearby. There's

5:47

a couple of outbuildings too, but largely

5:49

it's the perfect wilderness to get some

5:51

surprising pictures. Half

5:55

an hour later the photographer examines

5:57

his latest shot, the framing isn't

5:59

quite right. But more than that, something

6:02

in one of the images catches his eye, something

6:04

out of place against the brown and green tones

6:06

of the earth and the trees. What

6:09

is it? The photographer

6:11

looks up and starts to venture closer to

6:13

the anomaly his camera has captured. In

6:16

front of him, just a few feet away, is

6:19

the body of a man and a length of rope. It's

6:23

immediately apparent that this gentleman has taken

6:25

his own life. And

6:27

until we know who he is, understanding exactly

6:29

why is hard to discern. But

6:35

there are other pertinent questions to be asked. Why

6:38

this location? Why these woods? Was

6:42

Balmour this man's home? Where he lived? Or

6:44

was he from out of town? In which

6:47

case, what brought him here to close the chapter

6:49

on his life? The

6:56

police attended and the coroner was informed. And

6:59

as is standard, wherever a body is

7:01

recovered, an investigation started by checking for

7:03

any identification. When

7:06

that wasn't forthcoming, checks were made against

7:08

local reports of missing people and

7:10

a description was shared in the local community.

7:14

So when nobody came forward, no

7:16

one able to identify this man and nobody

7:18

in the village noticed that any of their

7:21

neighbours or locals matched his description.

7:24

Well, the theory that he was from out of town

7:26

gathered weight. So

7:34

were these woodlands significant to the Balmour man?

7:37

Somewhere he walked with loved ones or friends, or

7:40

maybe a place he visited as a child? Maybe

7:43

it's somewhere he just stumbled across

7:45

as he walked outwards from Balmour

7:47

centre, contemplating taking his life. We

7:51

don't know the answers yet, but these

7:53

are the questions to ask before rippling

7:55

outwards into theories. Clue

8:04

number two, the body.

8:09

Professor Dame Sue Black works with a

8:11

cool precision born from years of practice

8:13

as she conducts the post-mortem. First

8:17

things first, the facts. Despite

8:22

the deep composition of the body in front

8:24

of her, she is able to examine bone

8:26

density and analysed teeth which place

8:28

the man on this table between the ages of 25

8:30

and 34 years old. He

8:34

has been in the woodland for a significant amount of

8:36

time, up to six months in fact, and

8:39

to put it delicately, his body is

8:42

not completely intact, having been

8:44

exposed to the wildlife the photographer had been

8:46

hoping to capture on his shoot. But

8:50

Professor Black is able to determine the man's height

8:53

as being between 5'8 and 6'1, and

8:56

he is a slight build. Now

9:00

carefully washed clean and free of mud and

9:02

detritus from the woodland, it's

9:04

clear to see the man is white skinned and

9:07

has light coloured hair which parts naturally to the

9:09

right. And

9:12

of course, our body holds plenty

9:14

of clues which are not visible to the

9:16

naked eye. The

9:21

body on this table, and we'll call in Balmor

9:23

Man from here onwards, boasts

9:25

a number of injuries which Professor Black discovers

9:27

one by one. There's

9:30

a healed fracture to his nose which might,

9:33

when he was alive, have given

9:35

it a particularly crooked shape, and

9:37

his front left tooth has a significant chip

9:40

which may or may not have been capped,

9:42

though no cap was found with him in

9:44

the woods. Then

9:48

there's the partially healed fracture to a bone at

9:50

the base of his skull, specifically

9:54

the pterygoid plate. What

9:57

could have caused such injuries was

9:59

Balmor Man. sportsman, a

10:01

rugby player perhaps, or even a wrestler. Or

10:04

was this the result of something far less

10:07

friendly? Then

10:10

there's the unhealed fracture on the right side

10:12

of Balmour man's jaw, which

10:14

would have caused him significant pain and

10:16

likely made it difficult for him to eat. Professor

10:20

Black finds no evidence of it ever

10:22

being treated or researched. It

10:24

could have been a long-term injury or something recent,

10:26

the result of a fight perhaps. This

10:30

fight might have been important, so important that it

10:32

could have led to the Balmour man taking

10:34

his own life. Most

10:38

people remember if they've been in a fight, let

10:40

alone if they've fractured someone's jaw, so

10:43

this is a crucial piece of information

10:45

which might just jog someone's memory. Finally,

10:49

Professor Black notes the telltale signs

10:51

of a degenerative knee condition. The

10:54

fact that Balmour man's trousers show particular wear on

10:56

the inside of the leg at the knee and

10:58

his shoes are worn down on the instep, led

11:01

her to conclude that the man in front of her

11:03

would likely have walked with a limp. In

11:07

isolation, each of these clues may not narrow

11:09

down or focus the search, but

11:12

in combination they start to paint a

11:14

picture. This

11:16

is a young man with a limp and

11:18

a fairly extensive roster of injuries and ailments.

11:21

Could these pieces of the jigsaw jog

11:23

someone's memory as to who Balmour man

11:25

might be? And

11:28

listeners should bear in mind that Balmour

11:30

man's limp feels particularly important. Where

11:33

would someone seek to end their own life in

11:35

a location so hard to get to if walking

11:37

was difficult? Millions

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11:56

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13:04

to clue number three, the

13:07

possessions. What

13:10

a person wears is incredibly important and holds

13:12

more clues about them as a person than

13:14

we might appreciate. Our

13:17

clothes speak to our financial status, our

13:19

taste, where we shop, even

13:21

our hygiene, and the same

13:24

applies to Balmain Man. This

13:26

gentleman was found wearing a blue polo t-shirt with a

13:28

slight v-neck, a top

13:31

man label on the inside, and a dark

13:33

diagonal stripe from top to bottom. There

13:36

was also some ornate white writing

13:38

across the front, almost as decorative

13:40

motif. Certainly a fashion

13:43

trend at the moment. Remember

13:45

it's 2011, so fashions aren't

13:47

wildly different from today. On

13:51

top of his t-shirt, Balmain Man wore a darker blue cardigan

13:54

with a Greek Pennsylvania logo. His

13:57

jeans were light-colored denim, made by the band called

13:59

The petroleum and he wore

14:02

black waterproof walking shoes often

14:04

bought in the supermarket chain little. A

14:08

foot away from the body lay a Nike

14:10

messenger bag containing a number of personal items.

14:13

There were some toiletries including a toothbrush

14:15

and two razors as well as some

14:17

spare clothes. Was

14:20

he coming from an overnight somewhere or planning to

14:22

stay overnight that day? Could

14:25

he have been homeless and is

14:27

it possible that these were his only possessions?

14:31

There was also a lighter in the bag

14:34

alongside cigarette papers and filters though no sign

14:36

of any tobacco. And

14:38

strangely the bag also contained

14:40

multiple sets of earphones and electronic

14:42

charges but investigators found no phone

14:44

in the bag or anywhere else

14:46

around the scene. So

14:50

where was the man carrying these items? Were

14:53

they his? Are they just a

14:55

red herring? Most young men

14:57

in 2011 would have a mobile phone so

15:00

what happened to the one belonging to the Balmour man?

15:04

Needless to say no identification was discovered

15:06

on or about his person or

15:09

we wouldn't be telling you this story. But

15:12

the final much darker possession was

15:14

a length of hose pipe which the

15:16

Balmour man had used to tie a noose. Clue

15:28

number four, theories so

15:30

far. As

15:34

Balmour man lay unclaimed in the mortuary

15:36

investigators chewed over various applicable theories which

15:38

are worth considering and which might lead

15:40

someone to piece together the jigsaw and

15:43

reveal who he is. If

15:46

we assume the things in the night messenger

15:48

bag were Balmour man's only possessions and the

15:50

fact he clearly hadn't sought medical treatment for

15:53

his injuries we can stack up the

15:55

likelihood of him being homeless or at least

15:57

itinerant. However, Balmour man

15:59

wasn't rest like someone with no money at

16:01

all. So perhaps the answer doesn't

16:03

lay on the streets, perhaps he had a

16:05

home after all. Yet

16:08

again, there's the fact that no one came

16:10

forward to claim this man as a family member or

16:12

a loved one, despite numerous appeals

16:15

in various areas of the UK

16:17

and beyond. Investigators

16:20

have considered lots of theories, including whether

16:23

he was a victim of human trafficking.

16:25

Could he have come from outside of the UK? Or

16:28

was he a victim of modern slavery? In

16:32

this event, the likelihood of anyone reporting

16:35

him missing would drop significantly, and

16:37

it makes finding people with relevant information

16:39

that much harder. All

16:42

lines of inquiry are open, and

16:44

with the man aged just between 25 and

16:47

34, it's highly likely that

16:49

family members are somewhere in the world wondering

16:51

what happened to their son, their brother, their

16:53

friend, perhaps even their father. On

16:58

the Locate International website, you'll find a

17:00

facial reconstruction of the Balmul Man. You'll

17:03

also find interactive images with his possessions

17:05

and a video filmed in the very

17:07

location where he tragically took his own

17:10

life. Take a look, they

17:12

might just jog your memory, you

17:14

might just fool the answers. And

17:17

as you go about your day-to-day business, don't

17:19

forget the case of the Balmul Man. Think

17:22

about the clues you've heard today. The

17:24

Balmul Woodland, his catalogue of

17:27

injuries, his limp, and

17:29

finally his distinctive blue polo

17:31

t-shirt. Could you

17:33

hold the missing piece of the puzzle which

17:35

might allow investigators to complete this jigsaw? Sometimes

17:38

all it takes is one small detail,

17:41

one seemingly insignificant idea. You've

17:48

been listening to Jigsaw, a Bitesize

17:51

podcast appeal from Locate International. They're

17:54

the charity who work to reinvestigate missing

17:56

people's cases with a mission to give

17:58

a name to the unidentified. You

18:00

can see images related to this case on their

18:02

website www.locate.international

18:07

On that website you'll also find a

18:09

forum, a discussion board where listeners can

18:11

share ideas and information. You

18:14

can discuss each case with other listeners,

18:16

go deeper into the story and provide

18:18

details which investigators can follow. That

18:21

address again is

18:23

www.locate.international Locate

18:29

International believes that everyone deserves dignity

18:31

in this. If you

18:33

have any relevant information or ideas you'd like

18:35

to share with their investigators, please get in

18:37

contact with them. The information you

18:40

give us can be anonymous and

18:42

your information alone could help identify this man

18:44

and reunite him with his name. We'd

18:48

also really appreciate if you share it with your

18:50

friends and family and leave a rating and a

18:52

review that will help other people find this series.

18:59

Jigsaw is produced by What's The Story Sounds.

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This season we're launching a new episode

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20:37

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