Walthamstow crash victim Bryan Woolis identified 10 years after death

Walthamstow crash victim Bryan Woolis identified 10 years after death

A decade ago, a tragic incident occurred when a man named Bryan Woolis was hit by a car just meters away from his home in Walthamstow, London. Despite efforts to identify him, he was previously known as Brian Wallace and no records of his true identity could be found. Insp Nik Dodsworth, a South Yorkshire officer, took on the case in his spare time after learning about Mr. Woolis’s possible connections to Sheffield.

The story first came to light when The Star newspaper shared an appeal from Locate International in January 2024, a charity dedicated to finding missing persons and identifying the unidentified. Insp Dodsworth was spurred into action after seeing the victim’s photos and realizing that he had not been identified yet. After going through old case files, he found a partial DNA match and consulted the Police National Computer database, revealing the man’s true identity as Bryan Alwyn Woolis.

It was discovered that Mr. Woolis had chosen to live a quiet life and had not been in contact with his sister since she moved away to care for their father in the early 2000s. Despite not being close, his sister experienced grief upon hearing about Bryan’s death and struggled to find information regarding the circumstances. As it was not uncommon for Mr. Woolis to be out of touch for extended periods, he was not reported as a missing person. The driver involved in the incident received a suspended sentence, but the case remained unresolved until Mr. Woolis was identified.

Locate International is now working to provide a new headstone for Mr. Woolis’s grave at Manor Park Cemetery with the correct spelling of his name. Insp Dodsworth expressed satisfaction in solving the mystery and giving closure to the family after a tragic decade-old road traffic collision. He emphasized the importance of providing proper identification and closure to such cases, allowing families to finally begin the process of healing and moving forward

Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More