A body found eight years ago on the shores of Lake Huron has been identified as a man who set out to peddle and paddle thousands of kilometres from Alberta to his hometown in Ontario.
Police confirmed the identity of Garnet Michael Nelson using genetic genealogy, including DNA tests, on Monday.
Nelson was found on Oct. 15, 2016 washed up near Port Albert, roughly 16 kilometres north of Goderich. Police noted at the time he was wearing a lifejacket.
An investigation was launched, and police appealed to the public for information. In the end, it was an article from a northern Ontario publication, Sootoday.com, that helped identify Nelson.
Garnet Nelson, photographed on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway by SooToday, said he was planning to canoe across Lake Huron from Manitoulin Island on his way back to London. (Jeff Klassen/SooToday)
The month before his body was found, reporter Jeff Klassen described an encounter with a man who identified himself as Mitchell Nelson. He was pulling a canoe hitched to a bicycle westward on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway near Espanola, Ont.
In the article, Nelson said he was born in London and moved to Alberta during an economic boom. When he was no longer able to benefit from that boom, he decided to move back to Ontario, he told Klassen.
The last line of the article explains Nelson’s plan to pull the canoe to Manitoulin Island, after which he would canoe across Georgian Bay and down the Lake Huron shoreline to visit his family in London. Ont.
In 2023, detectives submitted Nelson’s DNA to a lab for testing. In July 2024, a family member’s DNA was used to confirm his identity, police said.
“He was 56-years old at the time of his death and investigators have confirmed that he is the same man that was interviewed by the news outlet in September 2016,” the OPP wrote in a statement.
Police said the technology they used in their investigation was instrumental to identifying Nelson, and thanked the public for their involvement as well.
“In this particular case, it was only through the use of [investigative genetic genealogy] that we were able to bring resolution to Garnet’s family,” said Detective Inspector Randy Gaynor, the lead investigator on the case.
“We would like to thank the public and media for their interest in this case and the tips provided over the years.”
Police said no foul play is suspected in Nelson’s death.