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Naked Nomad Victor Flanagan leaves multi-million dollar estate
By Mark Schliebs
April 14, 2008 01:00pm
A man who rejected possessions and walked around Australia naked has been declared dead, leaving his sister to inherit an estate worth millions of dollars. 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.
The West Australian reported that a multi-million dollar beachfront property near Busselton would be left to his sister, Violet Georgina Jenkins. Flanagan had inherited the property after their father's death. Mrs Jenkins told the court that she last spoke to Flanagan in 1996, while he was living in Papua New Guinea, the newspaper reported.
He had relocated to PNG after years of wandering around outback Australia naked - except for a sarong he would wear when walking through towns and a pair of thongs for when there were too many prickles on the road. 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 environmental awareness group The Great Walk, 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".
In 1995, Flanagan told a reporter that his naked adventures had attracted a lot of interest from travellers and police, but many were willing to give him and his dog food and water. "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.
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