This page has been translated from sources not in English and may contain inaccuracies or errors.
Svartesjö John Doe was a man whose skeleton was found at the bottom of Lake Svartesjö, Sweden after it was drained in 1899. He was never positively identified but was believed to be Magnus Andersson, who went missing in 1884.
Case[]
Although the exact date of the discovery is unknown, a news article printed on 15 September 1899, stated that in the summer of that year, a man living in Hårdakvarn dug a ditch from Ramlamossen to Lake Svartesjö to obtain water for his mill and in the process also drained the lake. Because of this, the lake's water level was lowered enough to reveal a human skeleton lying on the lake bed.
It is unclear how the investigation progressed, whether any skeleton examination was conducted, or if any personal effects or clothing were recovered. Suicide was considered a cause of death, but since the body was fastened to the lake bed by wooden stakes, this theory was deemed unlikely. Despite the suspicious nature of the discovery, no cause of death was ever stated. The locals, however, suspected that the remains belonged to a man named Magnus Andersson.
Possible identity[]
Magnus Andersson was born on 39 February 1808, In Källunga, Sweden and was sometimes referred to by his nickname "Dalbon". He married a woman named Christina Bengtsdotter, and together, the couple had one daughter, while Magnus had a foster son. Christina passed away in 1882, leaving Magnus a widower. Not much about his life afterwards is known other than he worked as a crofter and moved in with a widow, but they soon grew tired of each other's company. On August 7, 1884, he went missing at 76 years of age in what many believed to be foul play and suspicious circumstances.
Magnus told the unnamed widow that he was going to Rydboholm to visit his foster son, but he never returned. Although some theorized that he had secretly immigrated to The United States or had taken his own life, many believed that he was murdered. Over the years, several rumors of his corpse being discovered would circulate. However, the bodies were always proven to belong to someone else. The year before the skeleton was found in 1898, a well in Våthult was excavated to look for his skeleton, but it wasn't found.
After the skeleton in Lake Svartesjö was discovered, it was widely believed that Magnus's body was finally found and that he had been murdered, with the unnamed widow being the prime suspect. But it was disputed that an older woman would be able to carry the corpse through the miles of bogs and roadless land to get to the lake and then fasten it to the bottom with wooden stakes. She had also passed away before the skeleton was found.
Despite the locals' strong suspicions, he was never definitively identified as the Svartesjö John Doe.
Sources[]
- Alingsås Tidning (Swedish)