Walthamstow crash sufferer Bryan Woolis recognized 10 years after dying

A person who died after being hit through a automotive a decade in the past has in the end been recognized, due to the efforts of a South Yorkshire officer who labored at the case in his spare time.

Bryan Woolis, in the past considered named Brian Wallace, died simply metres from his house in Walthamstow, London, when he was once struck through a Mercedes on 22 January 2015. No information of his determine might be discovered.

Insp Nik Dodsworth took up the case after finding out of Mr Woolis’s imaginable hyperlinks to Sheffield.

He mentioned: “It was a sad thing to have a man die and be buried without being correctly identified.”

The Star newspaper first shared an enchantment in January 2024 from Locate International, a UK charity devoted to finding the lacking and naming the unidentified.

Insp Dodsworth mentioned the item spurred him into motion.

“They had two good quality photos of the victim, but despite this, he had still not been identified,” he mentioned. “I found that quite sad.”

Going via outdated case information Insp Dodsworth had sourced from the Met, he discovered a partial DNA fit for the person.

He consulted the Police National Computer database, which returned the person’s true id – Bryan Alwyn Woolis.

Insp Dodsworth then discovered the web obituary of the person’s father, Alwyn Woolis, who died in Derbyshire in 2016. He had 3 youngsters, together with Bryan.

Mr Woolis had lived a quiet lifestyles through selection, and had no longer noticed his sister for the reason that early 2000s when she moved from London to seem after their father, Insp Dodsworth mentioned.

“Despite not being close, she experienced grief at Bryan’s death,” he added.

“She had heard a rumour that Bryan had died of natural causes but could not find anything to corroborate this.”

As it was once no longer thought to be extraordinary to not listen from Mr Woolis for lengthy classes of time, he was once no longer indexed as a lacking particular person.

Insp Dodsworth mentioned other folks loss of life with out being officially recognized is “not as uncommon as you might expect”.

The motive force was once given a suspended sentence after the incident, however the case remained open because of the unidentified sufferer.

Locate International is operating to safe a brand new gravestone for Mr Woolis’s grave at Manor Park Cemetery in London with the right kind spelling of his title, which Insp Dodsworth mentioned “has to happen”.

He added: “I got a sense of satisfaction from getting to the bottom of this mystery, putting a name to the victim of a tragic road traffic collision from 10 years ago.

“I’m satisfied that they [the family] in the end have some closure in this tragic incident and will start to rebuild.”