Manfred Fritz Bajorat- The Sailor Found Mummified

On February 26, 2016, a group of fishermen off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines, noticed a curiously floating boat at sea. The vessel was clearly battered and on its last legs. It'd appeared as a ghost vessel with a damaged mast.

When the fishermen boarded the ship and entered inside, they encountered something even more terrifying than they could have imagined: the mummified body of a German sailor called Manfred Fritz Bajorat.

Authorities only identified the individual based on paperwork found in his cabin. An autopsy indicated that the 59-year-old died of a heart attack and that his 40-foot sailboat had drifted at sea for weeks, preserving his body in gruesome fashion.

The bizarre incident garnered international headlines and quickly circulated over the internet. People all across the world were wondering how Manfred Fritz Bajorat ended up wandering alone through the Philippine Sea. Before the answers arrived, there was simply an alarming note left by Bajorat:

“Thirty years we’ve been together on the same path. Then the power of the demons was stronger than the will to live. You’re gone. May your soul find its peace. Your Manfred.”

As the authorities would soon find, Manfred Fritz Bajorat's story was far more frightening than his mummified corpse suggested.

Finding Manfred Fritz Bajorat

The weather was ideal for fishing on the day Manfred Fritz Bajorat was discovered, with clear sky and calm seas. That's exactly what Christopher Rivas, 23, had planned that Friday before things took a terrifying turn. He and his friend, both residents of P-4 Poblacion in the town of Barobo, were fishing about 40 miles away when they spotted the ship.

The yacht was christened "Sayo" and painted white. With its damaged mast and half sunken hull, it was obvious from afar that it was in bad shape. After discovering Bajorat's naked body inside, Rivas called the cops, who held off on investigating foul play until the autopsy results came in.

According to the postmortem results from the regional crime laboratory, the cause of death was acute myocardial infarction.

"The air, heat, and saltiness of the sea are all extremely favorable to mummification," said Peter Vanezis, professor of forensic pathology at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. The mummification will begin in two to three weeks.

The vessel itself included a vast collection of family photos of a happy Bajorat with his wife and daughter. From images of Notre Dame and cafes in Paris to picnic photos, the albums suggested a happy family unit.

When the German embassy on Mindanao Island attempted to contact his family, they learned that his ex-wife died of cancer in 2010. Authorities discovered from his daughter, who came to identify the body that Bajorat had been sailing the oceans alone for years, possibly in response to the disintegration of his family.

How Manfred Fritz Bajorat Got Lost

Manfred Fritz Bajorat was a seasoned sailor who had clocked over 500,000 nautical miles at sea. His wife initially accompanied him, but the couple divorced in 2008. Bajorat made the ocean his permanent home after his ex-wife died two years later and his grown daughter obtained a position as captain of a freight vessel.

On August 1, 2008, he boarded the Hyundai Renaissance freighter and began his journey across the equator from Singapore to Durban, South Africa. Following that, Bajorat traveled to the Spanish island of Mallorca.

According to a document aboard Bajorat's ship, the Sayo was cleared by maritime police in either Sao Vicente, Brazil, or Sao Vicente, Cape Verde in 2013. He began his solitary maritime adventures in earnest at that point, regularly publishing updates on his Facebook profile and responding to birthday wishes.

According to certain reports, Bajorat hasn't been seen in person since 2009. He spent the last two decades of his life attempting to escape his fatherland's harsh winter conditions. In the end, he only left images and a note to the woman he loved.