Summary
In July 1995, a young man was struck by a train at the railroad crossing at Courtney Street and 13th Avenue in Regina. The young man was described as Caucasian and between 20 to 30 years of age, at the time of his death. He was wearing a black denim button shirt over a white t-shirt with the words "Boca Authentic" on the front. He also wore blue jeans and a pair of Reebok running shoes. The young man did not have identifying documents and the items he was found with did not provide clues to his identity. A search of the young man's fingerprints against local, national, and American databases did not yield an identity either. Finally, investigators were not able to match the young man's description to people that had been missing from the area.
Over the past 26 years, the Coroners Service in conjunction with the Regina Police Service exhausted all avenues to find the identity of this unknown man. In December 2020, investigators reached out to Othram to use advanced DNA testing in hopes of producing new investigative leads that could identify the young man or his family. Othram used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to produce a genealogical profile. The Othram genealogy team determined that the man was part of a Canadian family with part of his ancestry tracing to Sweden. Investigative leads were returned to Coroners Service and the Regina Police Service. Investigators then continued their investigation and confirmed the identity of the young man as 30-year-old Michael Kirov from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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.