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A renewed bid to identify a man found dead in a guesthouse almost three decades ago has been launched by investigators.
A new image of the young man with a “toothy grin” was released by a cold case team today - the 28th anniversary of the discovery of his body.
He checked into the Jolly Roger guesthouse in Gordon Road, Cliftonville in Margate on September 24, 1996, but was found dead a few days later.
Despite extensive investigations spanning almost three decades, he has never been identified.
Volunteer investigators at Locate International – an organisation which looks into cold cases of missing and unidentified people – have been conducting inquiries into the case of the man known only as Margate Man.
But 28 years to the day since his body was discovered, they have released a new living depiction of him – produced by forensic artist Hew Morrison – in the hopes of identifying him.
The guesthouse owner reported the man of apparent Asian descent arrived with no luggage, only a carrier bag.
He wore white jeans, a black sweatshirt and a blue denim jacket.
‘Margate Man’ was believed to have been in his late 20s, 5ft 8ins tall and weighed about 11 stone.
The visitor had a scar on one eyelid and gave his name as only ‘Mr Kirasawara’.
He is said to have told the guesthouse owner he was Japanese and asked if there were any Japanese restaurants in the area.
There were none at the time so he visited the local KFC instead.
He was found dead in the bed in his room by the guesthouse owner on September 27, 1996 - three days after he checked in.
A coroner later recorded a verdict of suicide, having taken an overdose of antidepressant pills.
Locate International investigators believe the name Kirasawara may have been misspelt and could have been Kirasawa, or another variation such as Kurosawa.
Research suggests the surname originates from southern Japan and ‘Kira’ indicates an owner of the land, or ‘shining’ or ‘radiant’, while ‘Sawa’ roughly translates to wet area/marsh. This may indicate what his familial or ancestral background was.
A dentist also gave evidence at the inquest suggesting he may have been wealthy as he had received expensive cosmetic dental work.
A news report on the inquest said of the dental work: “It was of a very high standard and anyone who knew the man would have recognised his broad, toothy grin.”
Locate International’s chief executive Mark Greenhalgh said: “All the evidence suggests he was a visitor to Margate, so we would like to hear from anyone who may have encountered him while he was in the town, no matter how small the interaction.
“He may have been visiting from abroad or from somewhere else in the UK, so maybe you remember a friend, colleague, neighbour, tenant or fellow guest who matches his description who you never saw again.
“No piece of information is too small as it can help confirm something we believe, or can send our investigation in a whole new direction.”
If you have any information, please contact Locate International by emailing appeals@locate.international or by calling 0300 102 1011.
