They found him floating face down in the sea 22 miles off Europa Point.
He was about 50 years old and well dressed in a blue shirt, a green jumper and matching trousers.
But he had been in the water for some time and his corpse was in the advanced stages of decay. Between them, the waves and the fish had left little to identify him by.
On April 27, 2006, the crew on the Royal Navy frigate HMS Sutherland recovered the body and brought it to Gibraltar wrapped in a plastic bag.
So began an investigation into the background of this “Unknown Male”, a process that culminated yesterday morning in a short inquest in the Coroner’s Court.
No one knows who the man was. His name remains a mystery, so too his nationality. Officials believe he may have been North African, but they are not sure.
No one knows how he died, though there were no signs of foul play. The man may have drowned. He may have suffered a heart attack. “But it’s all speculation,” said Coroner Charles Pitto.
It was a short, solemn inquest. The Coroner was there, as was the court clerk and the duty officer. Also present was PC James Ignacio, the police officer who handled the investigation on the Coroner’s behalf. In the public gallery were two journalists.
There was no one else.
It was a tragic way to mark the end of a life, and the Coroner summed up the sentiment.
“It is normal at this stage to offer condolences to the family of the deceased, but this case is particularly sad because there is no one to offer condolences to,” Mr Pitto said after he formally opened the inquest.
“The death of any human being is a matter to be regretted by each and every one of us.”
In the gloomy setting of the Magistrates Court, PC Ignacio, who has spent years in the Marine Section of the Royal Gibraltar Police, described what little was known of the man.
He said it was unlikely that the dead man was an illegal immigrant who drowned. The Strait of Gibraltar is notorious for such deaths, but the clues in this case pointed elsewhere.
“The clothes were of reasonable quality,” PC Ignacio said. “And he was not wearing any socks.”
“Most immigrants are found wearing two or three pairs of socks, a couple of pairs of trousers, two or more jumpers.”
A doctor carried out a post mortem on the body, but it yielded little information.
A file was put together listing all the available details, including dental x-rays taken by a military dentist in Gibraltar. Information of this type can prove vital to identification.
The dossier was circulated globally via Interpol by the Gibraltar Co-ordinating Centre for Criminal Intelligence and Drugs [GCID]. The hope was that someone somewhere would make a connection, recognise something. But it was no good.
“To date we have received no notification reference this body,” said Detective Constable John Sanchez, a police officer seconded to GCID. “It means that nobody has made any matches based on the information we provided.”
With little other option in the face of the scant evidence before him, the Coroner recorded an open verdict, cause of death unknown.
The final resting place of this unidentified man is as anonymous as the manner in which his life ended.
In an overgrown corner of North Front cemetery, a small metal plate with a two-digit number marks the spot.
He was buried without fuss or ceremony in May 2006.
The unknown dead man found at sea.
Number 37.