Walthamstow Crash victim Bryan Woolis identified 10 years after death

A man who died by a car a decade ago was finally identified thanks to the efforts of a South Yorkshire officer who worked on the case in his free time.

Bryan Woolis, who was previously referred to as Brian Wallace, died only meters from his house in Walthamstow, London when he was hit by a Mercedes on January 22, 2015. No records of its identity could be found.

Insp Nik Dodsworth took up the case after learning from Mr. Woolis' possible connections to Sheffield.

He said: “It was a sad thing to let a man die and be buried without being properly identified.”

In January 2024, the Star newspaper announced for the first time a vocation of Locate International, a British charity organization that is dedicated to the localization of the missing and naming the unknown.

Insp Dodsworth said the article put him into practice.

“They had two high -quality photos of the victim, but he was still not identified,” he said. “I found that pretty sad.”

When he moved into the old case files from the MET, he found a partially DNA agreement for the man.

He consulted the police computer database, which gave the true identity of the man – Bryan Alwyn Woolis.

Insp DodSworth then found the man's online aftercall of the man, Alwyn Woolis, who died in derbyshire in 2016. He had three children, including Bryan.

Mr. Woolis had led a quiet life of your choice and hadn't seen his sister since the early 2000s when she moved from London to take care of her father, said Insp Dodsworth.

“Although she was not nearby, she experienced grief about Bryan's death,” he added.

“She had heard a rumor that Bryan had died for natural reasons, but could not find anything to confirm this.”

Since it was not considered unusual to not hear from Mr. Woolis for a long time, he was not listed as a missing person.

Insp Dodsworth said that people die without officially identified, “is not as unusual as they may expect”.

After the incident, the driver received a suspended judgment, but the case remained open due to the unidentified victim.

Locate International is working on securing a new tombstone for Mr. Woolis' Grave on the Manor Park Cemetery in London with the correct spelling of his name, the Insp. Dodsworth said “must happen”.

He added: “I had a feeling of satisfaction to get to the bottom of this secret and to give the victim of a tragic traffic collision of 10 years ago.

“I'm glad you [the family] Finally, they close this tragic incident and can begin to rebuild. “