Peter Bergmann

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

An Garda S Och Na Sligo Garda (STATION)

Recovery Location:

Sligo, County Sligo, Ireland

Summary:

An unidentified man died in County Sligo, Ireland, in the early hours of 16 June 2009. The man, using the alias "Peter Bergmann", had checked into the Sligo City Hotel on 12 June, where he stayed during the majority of his visit to Sligo. Despite conducting a five-month investigation into his death, the Gardaí have never been able to identify the man or develop any leads in the case.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Recovery:

On Friday 12 June, the man was first spotted at the Ulster Bus Depot in Derry between 14:30 and 16:00. He boarded a bus headed to Sligo carrying a black shoulder bag and a standard carry-on luggage bag. He arrived at 18:28 at Sligo bus station and took a taxi to the Sligo City Hotel, where he paid per night in cash. While checking in, he gave the false name of "Peter Bergmann" and an address that was later reported as "Ainstettersn 15, 4472, Vienna, Austria." When CCTV footage from the hotel was later reviewed by the police, they discovered Peter Bergmann had left the hotel 13 times with a full purple plastic bag. Each time he returned, he was carrying nothing. On Saturday 13 June, the man was seen walking to Sligo post office at 10:49 and purchased eight 82-cent stamps and airmail stickers. The following day, the man left the hotel between 11:00 and 11:30 and asked a taxi driver recommendations for a nice quiet beach where he could swim. The taxi driver stated that Rosses Point would be the best place, and drove the unidentified man to the beach. On Monday 15 June, the man checked out of the hotel at 13:06 and handed in his room key. He left with a black shoulder bag, a purple plastic bag, and a different black luggage bag. The man was last seen alive shortly before midnight on the beach. A man and his son who had been training for a triathlon were walking along the beach when they found a body on the shore at about 8am. He was wearing purple striped Speedo-type swimming trunks, with his underpants over the top and a navy T-shirt tucked into them.

Additional Details:

During the coroner's inquest on 14 April 2010, the cause of death was ruled as acute cardiac arrest resulting from ischemic heart disease. The post-mortem examination found no evidence of drowning, with the lungs appearing dry and containing no salt water. A postmortem found he had advanced prostate cancer and bone tumours, had suffered several previous heart attacks, had one kidney and had a gold tooth. Notably for a man who had serious health conditions, the toxicology report stated that he had no medication of any sort in his system. Police searched databases for photographic, fingerprint, and DNA matches, but none matched. After a five-month investigation, the body was buried in an unmarked grave in Sligo. The funeral was attended by four Gardaí. He was buried in an unmarked grave at Sligo cemetery, with six people attending the funeral on September 18th, 2009. In 2015, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that they had contacted Austrian police about the case, and that Austrian police commented that the Gardaí had never contacted them. It was the subject of a 2013 documentary, The Last Days of Peter Bergmann, which was shown at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. The film has developed a small following on social media websites such as Reddit, where readers have constructed theories of the case. In 2021, it was reported that the Gardaí do have the man's DNA, but due to a strange policy that they "don't send DNA to Ancestry or other sites," it seems that Peter Bergmann will remain unidentified until a family member or friend comes forward, or officials in Ireland or Austria make it a priority to finally discover the identity of the mysterious Peter Bergmann. Forensic imaging consultant Hew Morrison has produced a new depiction of the man, and there is also a YouTube video featuring exclusive CCTV footage of the man during his time in the area.

Case Last Updated:

May 11, 2026