The Toronto Police Service is informing the public that human remains have been identified through investigative genetic genealogy (IGG).
On Monday, July 27, 1992, the Toronto Police Service responded to a call for a man's body found in the water in the Inner Harbour area of Lake Ontario. Coronial and police investigations determined that the death was not suspicious.
Attempts to identify him through conventional investigative techniques were unsuccessful.
In 2025, this case was selected for investigation using investigative genetic genealogy (IGG). A DNA profile of the unidentified man was obtained and uploaded to public-facing databases on January 8, 2026.
Less than five days later, Toronto Police investigators determined that the unknown man could be named Kevin, originally from Saskatchewan.
Investigators located Kevin’s relatives living in Western Canada. A DNA sample was obtained from a close relative and sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences for comparison.
On March 9, 2026, DNA testing confirmed that the unknown man is Kevin. His family was notified of the identification and provided with the details of his burial location. Kevin was not reported missing, but those who loved him had long feared what had happened to him as they had not heard from him in years.
This investigation was made possible through a grant provided by the Ministry of the Solicitor General, and the collaborative efforts of the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service, the Toronto Police Service, Othram and the Centre of Forensic Sciences. This investigation was further assisted by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
This is the tenth person identified from the Toronto Police Service’s humanitarian initiative ‘Project 31’.
Project 31 began in the summer of 2022. It was named for the 31 open Toronto Police Service cases involving long-term unidentified deceased people for whom DNA material is readily available.
The goal of Project 31 is to identify all 31 people through the vigorous use of DNA-based investigative techniques, including investigative genetic genealogy.
Republished courtesy of Toronto Police