Investigative Ideas - Episode 5 - Waltham Forest Man

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At around 10.20 pm on the night of Thursday, 22 January 2015, a man was fatally struck by a car outside the Bell Pub on Forest Road, Walthamstow. No identifying documents were found on the man, and he has never been formally identified.

Police believe he was living nearby under the name of ‘Brian Wallace’ and had worked as a local builder for many years. It has been suggested that he had family in Sheffield and possibly a sister in Neasden – but it has not been possible to verify these details and no family members have so far been traced.

We have discovered he sometimes drank in The William the Fourth pub on High Road Leyton, and that he may have had a houseboat on the River Lea.

Read the full case details here across our two most recent appeals for information:

To discuss the case directly with our investigators, you can post on this discussion thread, or even start your own to cover a specific topic.

yannahschou

It's heartbreaking to think that he's remained nameless for so long. After going through the details on your site, how can we lend a hand in your efforts to give this man the closure he deserves?

Your dedication to this case is inspiring. Whether it's spreading the word, sharing any of information you might have, or just actively engaging in discussions, count me in! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on how we can pitch in.

LisaM

yannahschou - thank you for your interest in this case. We hope that the podcast will bring the case to the attention of more people and that if information is shared more widely it will improve the chance of someone coming forward with a piece of information that might just help us in making a full identification and in being able to let any family members know what has happened.

Joanne2603

Oh this poor man. How unusual to have a very good photo but no idea of who he is.
I'd like to know if the car driver stopped or not and what happened with the incident?

Where can I listen to more jigsaw cases please? I currently listen through Spotify the missing podcast. Thanks

LisaM

Joanne2603 - thank you for your interest in this case. I can confirm that the driver of the car did stop and faced Court proceedings.

You should be able to listen to all other Jigsaw episodes via Spotify's The Missing podcast (or through other Podcast providers). There have been 5 Jigsaw episodes aired so far and there are more to come.

mags66

Does anyone have any idea of his wife's name. When he was married.

LisaM

mags66 - I'm afraid we don't have any information on his family, only some suggestions that he had been married with children but was now estranged from them.

Joanne2603

LisaM has this been explored on ancestory.com? I would be happy to help

YvonneN

Joanne2603 Hi Joanne, Thank you very much for your offer to help, it is very kind of you. However, extensive investigations have taken place using Ancestry and other web sites.

Rllowe

All boats are meant to be registered with the local water agency. Have they been asked about the one in the picture

YvonneN

Rllowe thank you for taking the time to contact us, it is appreciated. I can confirm that we contacted the owner of the boat, who unfortunately wasn't able to provide us with any additional information.

Emma

If haven't already, perhaps worth sharing on the Walthamstow facebook group with 43k members?

Assume his potential landlord didn't have any information and must have been paid cash so no bank trace? Local GPs have no trace of anyone registered at that address? Appreciate the police would need to make these type of enquiries.

YvonneN

Hi Emma, many thanks for taking the time to drop us a note, it is appreciated.

I can confirm that we did post on the Facebook Group sometime ago and have contacted local GPs. We have also been in contact with his landlord.

Emma

I'm sure covered as part of usual BMD searches but if his name was even partly correct he could have assumed his first and middle names and have a different surname. A few possibles on Scotlands People of males with the first and middle names of Brian Wallace. Difficult as this could be totally made up and for whatever reason wanted to dissociate from his previous life. Everything crossed can be solved.

YvonneN

Thanks Emma, you are right, there are so many possible variations of his name, we have carried out extensive genealogy searches on as many combinations as possible.