Police working with U.S. art students for fresh clues in 47-year-old Chilliwack mystery
RCMP are hoping some help from students at the New York Academy of Art will bring in fresh leads to a nearly 50-year-old cold case in Chilliwack, B.C.
The case goes back to Sept. 18, 1972, when a man was found dead on a sandbar on the Fraser River near McSween Road.
According to Cpl. Mike Rail with RCMP's Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment, the case went cold after investigators failed to identify the man or to find any indication that something criminal had led to his death.
Earlier this month, RCMP based in Ottawa began a collaboration with the New York Academy of Art, in which 3D-printed skull replicas from 15 cold cases in B.C. and Nova Scotia — out of a total 700 cold cases across the country — were sent to students taking part in a forensic sculpture workshop.
The students carefully placed clay over the skulls, beginning by sculpting the muscles, and then the other tissues on top. They used various anatomical markers to determine how features such as ears would be positioned.
Now police in Chilliwack are hoping one of those reconstructions helps somebody recognize the unidentified man.
"The goal is to find closure," said Rail. "To provide answers to a family who, for 47 years, has not had an answer to where a loved one was."
Little is being released about the man. Rail said he was 18 to 35 years old when he was found dead, meaning he would be 64 to 82 today. He had brown hair, brown eyes and his teeth had been cared for, said Rail.
The man was wearing grey canvas size 10 running shoes and grey wool work socks.
Police aren't releasing the cause of the man's death, but Rail said he could have perished anywhere within a large part of the province, given that he was found along the Fraser River.
Thirteen other cases are posted on the RCMP's missing persons website, with images and details. All the unidentified remains were found in B.C.
This week another case that was involved in the reconstruction project was identified in Nova Scotia, but investigators say DNA analysis can be credited in that case. The man's identity hasn't been released.
Police ask anyone with information about this case to contact their local police detachment.
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