A historical artifact that was recently rediscovered may offer a penetrating clue to the identity of the infamous Jack the Ripper, who mutilated and murdered five women in London in 1888 but was never caught.

Many theories have been propounded as to the murderer’s identity, and little if any evidence has been found as to his physical appearance, but the rediscovery of a walking stick that may have his face carved on it has excited some police researchers. It was just found by staff in the archives of the College of Policing in the U.K., who called the face engraved on the cane “the only reported facial composite” of the infamous murderer.

Jack the Ripper may have finally been unmasked after police make bizarre discovery https://t.co/nc3JP4qoaH

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) December 30, 2022

“Finding this cane was an exciting moment for us,” Antony Cash of the College of Policing enthused. “Jack the Ripper is one of the biggest and most infamous murder cases in our history and his crimes were significant in paving the way for modern policing and forensics as it caused police to begin experimenting with and developing new techniques as they attempted to try and solve these murders, such as crime scene preservation, profiling, and photography.”

The walking stick had originally been presented to then-Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline “as a mark of esteem” by his investigative team after the murders.

“This walking cane is such a fascinating artifact that represents such a historically significant time in policing, and it’s amazing that we can put it out on display here in Ryton, alongside the original newspaper cuttings, so that our officers can see first-hand how far we’ve advanced in policing since then,” Cash added.

The handle of the cane shows a man glaring while wearing a dark cowl, a face that researchers think was supposed to represent Dr. Alexander Pedachenko, whom Abberline suspected of the crimes, which occurred between August 31 and November 9, 1888. Jack the Ripper slashed the throats of five prostitutes: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. He reportedly took internal organs from three of the women and removed half a kidney from one and sent it to the police.

A series of notes were sent to the police from someone claiming to be the murderer and calling himself Jack the Ripper. The failure to catch the murderer led to the resignation of the London police commissioner. The removal of organs from the victims has led some to believe that the murderer may have been a doctor, who would have had the requisite knowledge to perform such an action.

World Boxing Council officials said in a report Thursday that the international professional prizefighting organization would create a new category for transgender fighters in 2023.

Mauricio Sulaiman, the council president, told The Telegraph he believes it’s time for the sport to address issues of “safety and inclusion.”

“We are going to put out a global call for those who are interested in 2023, and we will set up the protocols, start consultation and most likely create a league and a tournament,” Sulaiman said.

In 1963, then President of Mexico, Adolfo López Mateos, established the organization with 11 other countries — including the United States — as an initiative to create an organization that would unify all the commissions of the world and develop the expansion of boxing, the WBC website reads.

Today, Sulaiman and council officials work to enhance boxing, “as well as to protect the health and well-being of all boxers — above any interest.”

Sulaiman added that the nearly 60-year-old organization created the rules for women’s boxing “so the dangers of a man fighting a woman will never happen because of what we are going to put in place.”

“In boxing, a man fighting a woman must never be accepted regardless of gender change,” the council’s president said. “There should be no grey area around this, and we want to go into it with transparency and the correct decisions.”

“Woman to man or man to woman transgender change will never be allowed to fight a different gender by birth,” he said.

Council officials would reportedly create a set of rules and structures for transgender boxing to take place.

The British Boxing Board of Control told The Telegraph that the organization confirmed it would also examine its transgender policy while committing to adopting the “at birth” policy, which Sulaiman detailed as never allowing a woman who transitioned to a man to fight a woman who was born a woman.

“At the moment, this is hypothetical, but we can see it coming, and we are looking at our transgender policy,” General Secretary Robert Smith of the board said. “It is what you are born as, as rugby union does. When it does [happen], we intend to be fully prepared. Medical and, perhaps more importantly, legal considerations will have to be taken into account.”

Natasha Jonas, the light middleweight world champion from Liverpool, said in an interview with the outlet that organization officials are “jumping the gun, but in the right way.”

“It should be quite clear — it is unfair in a combat sport, and it is dangerous,” Jonas said. “I think it should be the same in any sport — but in combat sports, it is dangerous.”

Jonas said the move from the organization makes sense.

As a female boxer, Jonas said she has no problem with transgender boxing. However, if a male transitions to a female, he should not compete as a woman.

“If a man transitioning to a woman fights a born woman, there are definitely physiological disadvantages for the female,” Jonas added. “If you’ve been through puberty either man to woman or woman to man — it’s clear what should be right.”

Sulaiman reached the same conclusion, the outlet reported.

“We are creating a set of rules and structures so that transgender boxing can take place, as they fully deserve to if they want to box,” he said. “We do not yet know the numbers that there are out there, but we’re opening a universal registration in 2023 so that we can understand the boxers that are out there — and we’ll start from there.”