North 麻豆传媒映画RCMP and the BC Coroners service are hoping a fresh look at some old remains will yield answers in a lingering cold case.
In August 1994, someone happened upon a body off a wooded trail in the northeast corner of Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen. The body was in 鈥渁n advanced state of decomposition鈥� so police brought in an entomologist who advised investigators the body had been there for 鈥渟everal months or more,鈥� said Sgt. Peter DeVries, North 麻豆传媒映画RCMP spokesman.
What they could tell was the body belonged to an Asian man, between the ages of 25 and 40. He would have been 165 to 177 centimetres tall (5鈥�5鈥� to 5鈥�10鈥�) with a medium build and stained teeth. At the time of his death, he was wearing a blue tank shirt, green pants, black Casio watch, gold necklace and brown tweed Le Chateau sports coat.
Investigators could tell he鈥檇 once had a fractured wrist and a lower back injury, but they won鈥檛 say how he died, apart from deeming the death 鈥渟uspicious.鈥� Police cross-referenced what they knew with all known missing persons cases at the time, but still could not put a name to the face. Any other details about the case remain sealed in the police file.
But in January, the RCMP and the New York Academy of Art鈥檚 forensic sculpture workshop revealed the reconstructed faces of 15 unidentified bodies from Canadian cold cases, including three from the North Shore. Students applied clay directly onto 3D printed replicas of the victim鈥檚 faces to produce likenesses of what they may have looked like.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that someone will recognize the reconstructed image of the person and that the added attention to the case might spark somebody鈥檚 memory and help us to identify this person so we can proceed with the investigation,鈥� DeVries said. 鈥淚t would give us a place to start with further enquiries.鈥�
Anyone with information is asked to contact the North 麻豆传媒映画RCMP at 604-985-1311.
