The Torso in the Thames is an unsolved murder case in the United Kingdom. It centres on the discovery of the torso of a black child, between the ages of 4 and 7, in the River Thames, London on September 21, 2001. The murder is believed to be linked to a ritual killing. Despite the use of the best forensic science in the world, the London Metropolitan Police are no closer to catching the killer.

Contents

1 Background 2 Initial investigations 3 Post mortem 4 Nigerian Link 5 Linked Cases 6 Future 7 External Link

Background

The torso was first discovered on the afternoon of Friday September 21, 2001 as it floated past the Tower of London towards Tower Bridge in Central London. A passer-by crossing the bridge had noticed an orange object in the water, and realising it was a body as it passed under the bridge, aletered the police. The Metropolitan Police, the police force that covers London, sent its marine search unit to the scene, who recovered the torso further upstream. The body was found to be the torso of a young black child, the orange being a pair of shorts around the stumps of the legs.

The discovery of the torso shocked police, and prompted massive media coverage in the United Kingdom and around the world. The police named the body, Adam in the absence of any positive identification.

Initial investigations

Police soon realised after recovering only the torso, that the circumstances were unusual and not typical of a sex-related murder. It was initally suspected that the murder was a muti murder, a type of ritual killing that prevails in Southern Africa. This type of killing involves the removal of body parts such as the ears or genitals. However Adam's gentials were not removed, and the police ruled out this theory.

Post mortem

A post-mortem was carried out on Adam's remains. This established from the amount of British food and pollen in Adam's lungs that he had only been in the United Kingdom for a few days. A potion that contained ingredients used in black magic was also discovered.

Nigerian Link

Adam's bones were also analysed to see if it could determine his geographical origins. As everything a person eats bears the trace of the soil of where it was grown or reared, soil samples were compared to places around the world. Scientists determined from this that Adam originated in the Yoruban Plateau in Nigeria, Africa.

Metropolitan police travelled to Nigeria and launched a campaign to track Adam's parents. Despite visiting primary schools and looking at reported misssing children in the region, there was no success.

Linked Cases

In July 2002, a Nigerian woman arrived in the UK from Germany, claiming to have fled from a Yoruban cult that practised ritual murders. She claimed that they attempted to kill her son, and that she knew Adam was murdered in London by his parents. Although she later denied this, she was DNA tested but found not to be Adam's murderer. However, police searching her flat found orange shorts with the same clothing label as those found on Adam.

Surveillance of the woman's associates brought the police to another Nigerian, a man named Kingsley Ojo. Searching of Ojo's house found a series of black magic items, however none of the DNA on the items matched Adam's DNA. Ojo was charged with child trafficking offences, and is expected to be questioned by police about the Adam case.

Future

Progress on the case has been considerable given the lack of evidence and the existence of only Adam's torso. The lack of dental records or face imagery has been a major block to clues. Despite this, the Metropolitan police believe the publicity surrounding the case has acted as a deterrent for further ritual crimes in the UK.

The police also note that Adam would never have been found if his body had washed out into the North Sea, which would have occurred only two turns of the tide after his discovery.

External Link

• BBC News, February 27, 2003 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2803441.stm)