A naked nomad has literally walked away from an estate worth millions, with the Supreme Court declaring him dead, leaving his sister to inherit his fortune.
Victor Flanagan, also known as the “Naked Nomad”, was declared “presumed dead” in the Supreme Court in Perth last week – more than a decade after he last spoke to his sister.
Mr Flanagan shucked off his clothes, rejected his possessions and started a walk around Australia.
His story has echoes of the 1994 hit movie Forrest Gump.
In the film, which features Tom Hanks, the title character abandons a sprawling estate in Alabama to run across the United States.
News Limited today reported a multi-million dollar beachfront property near Busselton would be left to his sister, Violet Georgina Jenkins. Mr Flanagan had inherited the property after their father passed away.
Mrs Jenkins told the court that she last spoke to him in 1996 while he was living in Papua New Guinea, News reported.
She said her brother had relocated to PNG after years of wandering around outback Australia naked.
Mrs Jenkins said loggers at a remote camp found a dying Caucasian man lying in a canoe – without any clothing – and that she believed it was her brother.
The man’s body had been buried in a mass grave in the PNG city of Lae where other unidentified people were laid to rest, she said.
Supreme Court Justice Andrew Beech ruled that it was fair to say Flanagan, who would have turned 57 this year, was dead.
“It is to be expected that he would have been in contact with (Mrs Jenkins) if he were still alive,” Justice Beech said.
In the March newsletter from The Great Walk, an environmental awareness group, Flanagan was described as “a gentle man who walked this earth with love and care for the environment around him”.
“He walked barefoot from Perth to Papua New Guinea, becoming known as the Naked Nomad, making the news in his plight to share his truth with the outside world,” the newsletter said.
Flanagan told a reporter in 1995 that his naked adventures had attracted a lot of interest from travellers and police, but many people showed him kindness on his journey.
“When I get hungry I hold out my plate and when I get thirsty I hold out my bottle for water for me and my dog,” Flanagan said.
He said his goal was simply to be in touch with nature.
