His body washed ashore near the Ontario-U.S border in 2003. Now, police have an ID [Video]

The Ontario Provincial Police say the identity of an American man’s body found almost 22 years ago near the Ontario-U.S border has been solved using investigative genetic genealogy, giving his family closure.

On May 29, 2003, a man’s body was discovered from the Livingston Channel Detroit River, just west of Amherstburg, Ont — a small town south of Windsor.

For more than two decades, police were unable to ID the body. The OPP’s Essex county detachment began an investigation and several attempts were made to identify the remains with no positive results.

The man was wearing dark coloured pants, a dark shirt and a winter coat as well as mountain shoes.

In early 2023, DNA was submitted for investigative genetic genealogy to identify the man. A few months later, police said through genealogy support by Toronto Police, a “presumptive” ID was determined.

“In September 2024, a family member’s DNA was used …