Police identify Niagara man nearly 30 years after he went missing

A cross-border investigation has confirmed the human remains found in Lake Ontario nearly 30 years ago are those of a missing Niagara man.

In 1994, Niagara police started looking into the disappearance of a 33-year-old man in the region.

It was then deemed a cold case after they exhausted all investigative options.

In July 2018, the Ontario Provincial Police Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (ONCMPUR) Unit completed a standard analysis identifying potential unidentified remains that could be associated with the missing person investigation.

A review of the analysis identified remains which were recovered on June 17, 1994 in Lake Ontario near Olcott Harbour in New York State.

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A postmortem was completed at that time, however, the remains were not positively identified and were then buried as a “John Doe” in a local U.S. cemetery.

In February 2019, U.S. investigators sent dental records of the unidentified remains to a Canadian dentist. Their review concluded that although identification was probable, a positive conclusion could not be made due to inconsistencies between the records.

Two months later, ONCMPUR officers confirmed with U.S. officials that the file associated with John Doe did not contain any additional information to further the investigation and DNA was never obtained at the time of recovery.

In late 2020, Niagara police’s missing person and unidentified remains coordinator was assigned to further investigate the case.

Niagara police say their review found an “excellent correlation” between the missing 33-year-old man and John Doe after they collected family DNA and examined the dental records again.

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Investigators then decided to unbury the remains, obtain DNA and complete a comparison.

Canadian officials asked their American counterparts to exhume the remains in an attempt to identify John Doe. It eventually happened in October 2023 and John Doe was subsequently brought to Canada for an examination.

On Oct. 25, Ontario forensic pathologists positively identified John Doe as the Niagara man who has been missing since 1994.

Police say he has since been laid to rest in Niagara. His family has requested that his name not be released.

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