Summary
In October 2016, the remains of an unidentified individual were found on the shore of Lake Huron near Port Albert, roughly 16 km north of Goderich, Ontario Canada. It was determined that the remains were that of a male wearing a lifejacket. An investigation was launched, and police reached out to the public for information in hopes of identifying the man.
In 2023, the Ontario Provincial Police in collaboration with Toronto Police Service, submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas in hopes that advanced DNA testing could help to identify the individual. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown man. Once the profile was developed, it was returned to the Toronto Police Service for use in a forensic genetic genealogy search to develop new leads in the case.
Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Garnet Michael Nelson.
A month before Garnet was found, Sootoday.com reporter Jeff Klassen recounted meeting a man who introduced himself as “Mitchell Nelson.” Nelson was pulling a canoe hitched to a bicycle along the side of the Trans-Canada Highway near Espanola, Ontario, heading west. In the article, Nelson shared that he was born in London and had moved to Alberta during an economic boom. The article concludes with Nelson's plan to pull his canoe to Manitoulin Island, then paddle across Georgian Bay and down the Lake Huron shoreline to visit his family in London, Ontario.
Although the news article had caught the attention of the Ontario Provincial Police, the investigation was anything but straightforward, according to Detective Inspector Randy Gaynor, the lead investigator. One major obstacle to definitively linking Nelson’s body to the man in the article was that he had used a different name during his interview with Klassen. Police said no foul play is suspected in Nelson’s death. Ultimately, it was Klassen’s article published in Sootoday.com combined with advanced DNA technology, that helped solve the mystery of the man’s identity.
The identification of Garnet Michael Nelson represents the tenth case in the Province of Ontario where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. Most recently in Rockwood, Ontario, 41-year-old Tammy Eileen Penner, whose remains were discovered at a picnic area, was identified after nearly two decades.
Michael Vogen
Director of Case Management
Michael works with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada on “unsolvable“ cases that can benefit from advanced DNA testing methods. He helps these agencies use cutting edge DNA sequencing and new forensic techniques to develop investigative leads for their cases.