Toronto police ID man found dead 4 years ago, hope genetic genealogy will crack more cases

Toronto police say they have identified a man found dead in the stairwell of a King Street West building four years ago with the help of a process called genetic genealogy, and say they hope the tool will help crack more cold cases in the future.

Police have not released the man's name or age, but they announced the finding in a news release on Friday, noting it used the tool to solve the case. The process allows police to identify unknown human remains and offenders in homicide or sexual assault cases where DNA has been left at a crime scene. 

The technology was used most recently in the case of a four-year-old girl whose remains were found in a dumpster in Rosedale. The girl was identified last month as Neveah Tucker of Toronto. It was also used to identify an unidentified woman found dead in Trinity Bellwoods Park in June 2020.

Sgt. Stephen Smith, of Toronto police's homicide and missing persons unit, said on Friday that the police service has 65 unidentified human remains in Toronto that it wants to identify and is in the process of sending 12 unidentified human remains for testing.

"This allows us to utilize familial matching and it allows us to to identify these people that have gone unidentified for a number of years and give them their names back," Smith said.

Genetic genealogy combines DNA testing with extensive genealogical research using public records and genetic databases.

In this case, the body of the man was found on July 18, 2019 in a building at 901 King St. W., according to the release. He had "extensive" tattoos on both of his arms and on his upper back.

The man didn't have a criminal record and there were no fingerprints or DNA on file, police said. He had not been reported missing and was not carrying identification.

"When we had to start to try to identify him, we really didn't have anywhere to start," Smith said.

In a Sept. 1, 2019 news release, police described the man as white, about 32 to 52 years of age, 5'8" to 6'2" tall, with an average build, short salt and pepper hair, and good teeth.

The Ontario Pathologist's office, with the help of the Ontario Provincial Police, arranged for an artist to create a rendition of the man. Police had hoped someone would recognize him and provide closure to his family and the police.

Officers also released a video appeal to encourage anyone with information to come forward.

But the artist's rendering of the man, although released to the media, failed to lead to his identification.

"Investigators turned to investigative genetic genealogy for assistance," police said.