Detectives believe they have finally unravelled the identity of 'The Man who fell to Earth' onto a suburban street near Heathrow Airport, thanks to a British woman in Switzerland.
It was three months ago the man, an African in his 20s or 30s, plummeted 2,500ft to his death from the undercarriage of what is believed to have been a British Airways plane landing from Luanda, Angola.
He hit the ground in Portman Avenue, East Sheen, a wealthy street beneath the flightpath, with only some rudimentary possessions, small change and, crucially, a mobile SIM card in his pockets.
His identity had been a mystery but after a pain-staking trawl for information that led them to the woman in Switzerland, police now believe they know who he is, according to The Independent.
They are not yet releasing his name publicly but say the victim - called The Man who fell to Earth in a poem left at the spot where he died - was from Mozambique.
The breakthrough came when they trailed information found on the SIM, which opened them up to a world of information about his life.
Among the several Botswanan and Zambian numbers on his Angolan-registered phone was that of the British-Swiss woman, who had sent him a message saying: 'I need a favour.'
After several failed attempts at contacting her, the intrigued woman responded to detectives' messages and told them their description matched that of the man she had employed as a housekeeper in South Africa in 2010.
Unprompted, she then described a tattoo on his arm bearing the initials ZG, which was his nickname
After 2010 it is thought the man had travelled across Africa, through Botswana and Zambia in search of work, before crossing the border into Angola and making the decision that would ultimately cause his death - to move to England.
When detectives arrived at the scene on September 9, they initially thought they were dealing with a violent crime.
But the man's injuries and a witness's report of a thump at 7.42am changed the course of the investigation.
It was at precisely that time that BA flight 76 from Luanda had passed overhead.
It is thought the man managed to clamber aboard the aircraft by evading security at Luanda Airport under the cover of darkness, and then escaping the attention of pilots during pre-flight checks.
British Airways maintain there is 'no direct evidence' he was on their flight but police are certain this was the case.
It is almost certain the man would have been dead by the time he fell to earth - temperatures would have fallen to as low as -60C during the 4,000-mile flight.
Saturday 22 December 2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2252148/Police-say-identified-man-dropped-Heathrow-bound-plane.html
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