An American man whose body washed up on the US-Ontario border more than 20 years ago has finally been identified, police said this week.
In May 2003, a man’s body was discovered off the Livingston Channel Detroit River, the Ontario Provincial Police announced in a social media post on Monday. He was wearing dark-colored pants, a dark shirt, a winter coat and mountain shoes.
Police were not able to determine his identity for more than two decades. Several attempts were made to identify the remains but did not yield positive results.
A breakthrough came in early 2023 when police submitted his DNA for a genetic genealogy.
But initially obtained a “presumptive” ID but by September 2024 confirmed his identity as 48-year-old James Raymond Stewart, a man from Detroit, Michigan, who went missing in November 2002. Police were able to use the DNA of a sibling to find a match.
The man’s family later traveled to Amherstburg, Ontario to visit his gravestone. Stewart’s parents died before they were able to determine what happened to him.
It’s not clear what caused Stewart to end up in the river. His cause of death was undetermined, but foul play was not suspected in the case, Detective Inspector Randy Gaynor said in a video release.
Stewart was born on May 31, 1954. The man’s sister, who spoke in a YouTube video posted by police, described him as a “sensitive” and “quiet” person. He loved jazz and eating, another sister said. Stewart leaves behind three siblings.
Earlier in his life, the man served in the US Navy and worked in Detroit-area restaurants.
One of his sisters said the Thanksgiving holiday season is always “bittersweet” for her family because that’s around the time he went missing.
“It’s closure for us because we had no idea,” one of the sisters said. “We’re just celebrating the fact that now we have closure.”
“We know where he is.”
