Ontario Provincial Police and Toronto Police Service Leverage Othram's Genetic Testing Platform to Identify a 2003 John Doe

Summary

In May 2003, the remains of an unidentified individual were discovered in the Livingstone Channel of the Detroit River in Amherstburg, Ontario. The Detroit River forms part of the border between the U.S. state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario. It was determined that the remains were that of an adult male, who could not be identified. The man became known as Livingstone Channel John Doe.

Details of the case were entered into Canada's National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR) as case 2016061103. Despite investigators’ efforts, the case was cold for more than two decades. In 2023, the Ontario Provincial Police, in collaboration with Toronto Police Service, teamed with Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man.

Forensic evidence was submitted to Othram's laboratory and Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown man. Upon successfully completing the process, the profile was returned to law enforcement so that a forensic genetic genealogy search could be conducted. This forensic genetic genealogy search, led by the Toronto Police Service genetic genealogy team, generated 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 48-year-old James Raymond Stewart of Michigan.

The identification of James Raymond Stewart represents the 14th case in the Province of Ontario where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. To learn more about other Ontario cases, visit DNASolves.