Izmir John Doe

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Izmir John Doe
Discovered	9 November 2015
Unidentified for	9 years
Sex	Male
Location	Izmir, Turkey
Body condition	Mummified
Postmortem interval	5-10 years
Cause of death	Not stated

Izmir John Doe was a man whose mummified body was discovered in an abandoned elevator in Izmir, Turkey. Turkish Police have provided no updates on his case after his autopsy and no foul play is suspected. Discontinued Turkish Lira banknotes were discovered amongst his possessions.

Case

On November 9, 2015, a 32-year-old painter was painting a multi-story car park in Izmir, Turkey when he noticed a "bad smell" coming from an elevator that had been out of service for several years. The painter decided to investigate the smell, as he was supposed to paint the inside and outside of the building. Upon opening the elevator doors, he discovered the decedent's decomposing body inside the elevator.

The police found the decedent to be a male in an advanced state of mummification. He was estimated to have been deceased for 5-10 years, with authorities citing the elevator's abandonment in 2005 to justify the upper range. The man was missing a foot and had several prosthetic teeth. He was wearing a sweater, a shirt underneath the sweater, a singlet under the shirt, pants, underwear, and an 18 karat gold ring on the right middle finger with writing on it, although what was written was not released to the public. Police also discovered 6 100,000 Turkish Lira Banknotes—a denomination that was discontinued in 2001 and ceased to be redeemable in 2011.

The body was sent to the Izmir Forensic Medicine Institute for an examination and autopsy. The forensic examination revealed no cause of death and no signs of trauma. Police stated that a detailed autopsy would reveal the cause of death and that the decedent would be buried in a "suitable cemetery."

Characteristics

• Missing one foot.

Clothing and accessories

• A sweater with a shirt underneath and a singlet underneath the shirt.
• Pants and underwear.
• An 18 karat gold ring with unknown writing on it.
• A few prosthetic teeth in his mouth.
• 600,000 Turkish Lira in the form of 6 discontinued 100,000 Lira banknotes.

Sources

• Mynet (Turkish)
• Hürriyet (Turkish)
• Haber Ekspres (Turkish) ^{POSTMORTEM WARNING}
• Gazete Vatan (Turkish) ^{POSTMORTEM WARNING}