Trying to visit the Somerton Man

I was in Adelaide recently and wanted to visit two things. First, the Arthur Conan Doyle plaque (https://221bcooee.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-arthur-conan-doyle-plaque-in.html), and this is the second: the grave of the Somerton Man. 

I should say up front two important points. 

The first is that finding the grave would be straight-forward thanks to a number of web sites that index graves  (https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/community/display/117822-somerton-man). 

The second point is that recent genetic analysis with Somerton Man samples has led to the body being exhumed by the South Australian coroner (see for example https://www.9news.com.au/national/somerton-man-mystery-timeline-discovery-to-excavation-what-we-know/3cb08cf1-9de2-4218-8a1f-5e551c9276c7).

I make these points to say that I did not quite know what to expect at the grave. Many photographs of the grave show a concrete border with gravel covering, a grave marker indicating that it is that of the Somerton Man, and the cemetery had more recently installed a plaque at the grave providing some background giving the historical significance.

What I found when I arrived was.... nothing:

As you can imagine I walked around the area for a while before it twigged that the grave markers no longer existed. I felt a little silly whenI realized this was the grave (with many footprints in the soil!).  I don't know a great deal about the process of exhumation, but clearly when a body is removed, there is no point leaving the headstone and other grave decorations in place. I assume these were destroyed, and that the grave marker was retained somewhere at the cemetery. While the body now has a name for a future grave (though this is still to be confirmed by the South Australian coroner), the grave marker would be of value in a museum exhibit (in fact I'm shocked there isn't one).

I did want to confirm that this was indeed the grave. Thankfully, the grave marker immediately behind the Somerton Man grave is a distinctive cast concreate marker intended to appear like a pile of stones. I was able to use an earlier photograph and see a range of features that compare well and confirm I had found the correct, but not vacant, grave.

As an aside, my Somerton Man goal in Adelaide was to visit the bust. Derek Abbott indicated to me in an email that the bust was on display at the South Australian Police Historical Society Museum. However, they responded to say that 

"The bust is NOT on display at any location.   It is currently an exhibit in a Coronial Enquiry and will remain so until the State Coroner makes a determination in relation to the identity of 'the unknown man'.  I do not know when that might happen"  

So, two attempts and two fails for a direct connection to the Somerton Man. I did have dinner in Glenelg, and a coffee at Adelaide Railway Station, which might be as close as I get to him....