The Strange Case of Peter Bergmann, a Man Who Never Existed?
Bizarre/Strange
Wednesday 12th, January 2022
On the 12th of June 2009 a man checked into a hotel in Sligo city, on checking in the man gave the name of Bergmann. On the 16th of June 2009 the body of the man was found on Rosses Point beach in sligo and to this date, Gardaí (Irish Police) have been unable to identify the man. This man is known as Peter Bergmann as this is the name he used during his stay in Sligo prior to his death.
There was a five month investigation into the Bergmann case which didn't come up with much, the investigation also involved help from other international organisations to try and help find Bergmann's true identity and/or next of kin.
There have been similarities drawn between the Bregmann case and the Tamam Shud case in Australia where an unidentified man was found dead on a beach shortly after the second world war with a few similarities in both cases.
On Friday the 12th of June 2009 the man known as Bregmann was first seen at the Ulster bus depot in Derry between approximately 2:30pm and 4pm, he then proceeded to board a bus heading to Sligo. The man was said to have been carrying a black shoulder bag and a carry-on bag. He is reported to have arrived at the Sligo bus stop at approximately 6.28pm that same day and then took a taxi to the Sligo City Hotel.
The man paid per night, in cash at the Sligo City Hotel and gave the name of "Peter Bergmann" with an address of "Ainsterttersn 15, 4472, Vienna, Austria" on checking in, all of which would turn out to be false information.
While the man stayed at the Sligo City Hotel he was seen leaving the hotel with a plastic bag containing items and returning with no bag in his hands, it's assumed the empty bag was put into a pocket upon returning to the hotel and then reused next time to bring out more items. It's speculated that the man may have been disposing of items that could have been used to identify him as he managed to dispose of items in the bag in areas not covered by CCTV around Sligo as if the man knew where CCTV blind spots were. The man was seen 13 times leaving the hotel with a full purple plastic bag, each time returning with an empty purple plastic bag.
The next day on Saturday the 13th of June 2009 the unknown man is reported to have went to a Sligo post office at approximately 10:49am and purchased 10 82 cent stamps and airmail stickers.
On the Sunday the 14th of June 2009 the unknown man left the Sligo City Hotel between approximately 11am and 11:30am and hopped into a taxi asking the taxi driver for recommendations for a nice quiet beach where he could swim.
The following day on the 15th of June 2009 the unknown man, upon handing his room key into the reception, checked out of the Sligo City Hotel at approximately 1:06pm. He left the hotel with a black shoulder bag, a purple plastic bag and another black luggage bag, it has been reported that a bag the man was seen with when he first arrived in Sligo was not with him when he left the Sligo City Hotel.
The unknown man's steps from here on started to have a strange feel to them. The unknown man walked via Quay Street stopping outside the Quayside shopping centre and hung around the doorway of the shopping centre for a few minutes before leaving the shopping centre at approximately 1:16pm walking down Wine Street in the direction of the bus station. Then at approximately 1:38pm the man ordered a cappuccino and a toasted ham and cheese sandwich at the bus station, while eating his food he read pieces of paper that he pulled from his pocket, after reading the paper he tore it and disposed of the paper in a nearby bin. The unknown man then proceeded to board a bus for Rosses Point at 2:20pm. The man was reported to have been seen by sixteen people while walking on the beach and was said to have greeted passersby.
On the morning of the 16th of June 2009 a body was found on the beach at Rosses Point at approximately 6:45am by Arthur Kinsella and his son Brian, the body was that of the unknown man, Peter Bregmann. The unknown man was said to have been wearing purple striped speedo type swimming trunks with his underpants over the top and a navy t-shirt tucked into them. The Gardaí (Irish police) were called and the unknown man was officially pronounced dead at 8:10am by Dr. Valerie McGowan.
Following the discovery of the man's body on the beach at Rosses Point a five month investigation was launched to try and get some answers, with very little luck. A post mortem was carried out on the man's body with the medical examiner Clive Kilgallen finding no evidence of "classical salt water drowning", additionally there were no signs of foul play that would suggest the man was murdered.
The unknown man's teeth were well maintained with evidence of regular dental work, but apart from this the unknown man's health was not great. The post mortem showed that the man had advanced stages of prostate cancer and bone tumours as well as his heart showing previous signs of a heart attack in the past and the man had only one kidney with the other having been removed.
Toxicology reports came back with no sign of any medication in his system. The medical examiner stated that due to the state of the man's health he would have required prescription pain medication or at least an over the counter pain medicine to help with the considerable pain he would have been in.
After the investigation ran for five months the unknown man's body was buried in Sligo in an unmarked grave with four Gardaí attending the man's funeral.
When the unknown man's body was found on the beach at Rossed Point most of his clothes were found on the shore but notability there was no wallet or any form of identification. 140 euro in notes were found in the man’s clothes and 9 euro in coins in an envelope, a packet of tissues, 55mg of asprin tablets made by Bayer and manufactured in the Czech Republic and distributed in Germany, Hansaplast sticking plasters, a bar of hotel soap in an unopened blue plastic wrapper printed with Mild Soap, Hotel Care. After further investigation it was found to not be a brand made or stocked in any hotels in Ireland.
Items not found were the man’s glasses, the 10 82 cent stamps he had bought in the post office, the long-sleeved blue shirt he was wearing when he left the Sligo City Hotel, the black shoulder bag and the purple plastic bag.
Some sources have reported that following the mans death that the address the man gave to the Sligo City Hotel was a ‘vacant lot', while others have stated that the street with the spelling "Ainstettersn" doesn't exist in Austria or Germany and that the post codes in Vienna don't match the one the man gave either. Vienna post codes start with a number 1 and the post code 4472 was not in use at the time of investigating the address.
Furthermore the stamps that were bought were never found and the unknown man was never seen posting any letters or packages. The man's bags or contents were never found either. It was also noted that all the tags on all the man's clothes had been cut off.
In 2019 Rosita Boland, a writer for the Irish Times put to the detectives of the case of Peter Bergmann about DNA evidence, they replied with, "We don't send DNA to Ancestry or other sites. While it might advance an area where Peter night have come from, it doesn't advance his identification."
The unknown man's DNA remains in evidence for a possible future check/follow up and no one has come forward with any details on the man's true identity.
There was a five month investigation into the Bergmann case which didn't come up with much, the investigation also involved help from other international organisations to try and help find Bergmann's true identity and/or next of kin.
There have been similarities drawn between the Bregmann case and the Tamam Shud case in Australia where an unidentified man was found dead on a beach shortly after the second world war with a few similarities in both cases.
On Friday the 12th of June 2009 the man known as Bregmann was first seen at the Ulster bus depot in Derry between approximately 2:30pm and 4pm, he then proceeded to board a bus heading to Sligo. The man was said to have been carrying a black shoulder bag and a carry-on bag. He is reported to have arrived at the Sligo bus stop at approximately 6.28pm that same day and then took a taxi to the Sligo City Hotel.
The man paid per night, in cash at the Sligo City Hotel and gave the name of "Peter Bergmann" with an address of "Ainsterttersn 15, 4472, Vienna, Austria" on checking in, all of which would turn out to be false information.
While the man stayed at the Sligo City Hotel he was seen leaving the hotel with a plastic bag containing items and returning with no bag in his hands, it's assumed the empty bag was put into a pocket upon returning to the hotel and then reused next time to bring out more items. It's speculated that the man may have been disposing of items that could have been used to identify him as he managed to dispose of items in the bag in areas not covered by CCTV around Sligo as if the man knew where CCTV blind spots were. The man was seen 13 times leaving the hotel with a full purple plastic bag, each time returning with an empty purple plastic bag.
The next day on Saturday the 13th of June 2009 the unknown man is reported to have went to a Sligo post office at approximately 10:49am and purchased 10 82 cent stamps and airmail stickers.
On the Sunday the 14th of June 2009 the unknown man left the Sligo City Hotel between approximately 11am and 11:30am and hopped into a taxi asking the taxi driver for recommendations for a nice quiet beach where he could swim.
The following day on the 15th of June 2009 the unknown man, upon handing his room key into the reception, checked out of the Sligo City Hotel at approximately 1:06pm. He left the hotel with a black shoulder bag, a purple plastic bag and another black luggage bag, it has been reported that a bag the man was seen with when he first arrived in Sligo was not with him when he left the Sligo City Hotel.
The unknown man's steps from here on started to have a strange feel to them. The unknown man walked via Quay Street stopping outside the Quayside shopping centre and hung around the doorway of the shopping centre for a few minutes before leaving the shopping centre at approximately 1:16pm walking down Wine Street in the direction of the bus station. Then at approximately 1:38pm the man ordered a cappuccino and a toasted ham and cheese sandwich at the bus station, while eating his food he read pieces of paper that he pulled from his pocket, after reading the paper he tore it and disposed of the paper in a nearby bin. The unknown man then proceeded to board a bus for Rosses Point at 2:20pm. The man was reported to have been seen by sixteen people while walking on the beach and was said to have greeted passersby.
On the morning of the 16th of June 2009 a body was found on the beach at Rosses Point at approximately 6:45am by Arthur Kinsella and his son Brian, the body was that of the unknown man, Peter Bregmann. The unknown man was said to have been wearing purple striped speedo type swimming trunks with his underpants over the top and a navy t-shirt tucked into them. The Gardaí (Irish police) were called and the unknown man was officially pronounced dead at 8:10am by Dr. Valerie McGowan.
Following the discovery of the man's body on the beach at Rosses Point a five month investigation was launched to try and get some answers, with very little luck. A post mortem was carried out on the man's body with the medical examiner Clive Kilgallen finding no evidence of "classical salt water drowning", additionally there were no signs of foul play that would suggest the man was murdered.
The unknown man's teeth were well maintained with evidence of regular dental work, but apart from this the unknown man's health was not great. The post mortem showed that the man had advanced stages of prostate cancer and bone tumours as well as his heart showing previous signs of a heart attack in the past and the man had only one kidney with the other having been removed.
Toxicology reports came back with no sign of any medication in his system. The medical examiner stated that due to the state of the man's health he would have required prescription pain medication or at least an over the counter pain medicine to help with the considerable pain he would have been in.
After the investigation ran for five months the unknown man's body was buried in Sligo in an unmarked grave with four Gardaí attending the man's funeral.
When the unknown man's body was found on the beach at Rossed Point most of his clothes were found on the shore but notability there was no wallet or any form of identification. 140 euro in notes were found in the man’s clothes and 9 euro in coins in an envelope, a packet of tissues, 55mg of asprin tablets made by Bayer and manufactured in the Czech Republic and distributed in Germany, Hansaplast sticking plasters, a bar of hotel soap in an unopened blue plastic wrapper printed with Mild Soap, Hotel Care. After further investigation it was found to not be a brand made or stocked in any hotels in Ireland.
Items not found were the man’s glasses, the 10 82 cent stamps he had bought in the post office, the long-sleeved blue shirt he was wearing when he left the Sligo City Hotel, the black shoulder bag and the purple plastic bag.
Some sources have reported that following the mans death that the address the man gave to the Sligo City Hotel was a ‘vacant lot', while others have stated that the street with the spelling "Ainstettersn" doesn't exist in Austria or Germany and that the post codes in Vienna don't match the one the man gave either. Vienna post codes start with a number 1 and the post code 4472 was not in use at the time of investigating the address.
Furthermore the stamps that were bought were never found and the unknown man was never seen posting any letters or packages. The man's bags or contents were never found either. It was also noted that all the tags on all the man's clothes had been cut off.
In 2019 Rosita Boland, a writer for the Irish Times put to the detectives of the case of Peter Bergmann about DNA evidence, they replied with, "We don't send DNA to Ancestry or other sites. While it might advance an area where Peter night have come from, it doesn't advance his identification."
The unknown man's DNA remains in evidence for a possible future check/follow up and no one has come forward with any details on the man's true identity.
