The “Otonabee River Man” case has stumped police officers for decades until they were able to identify the victim using state-of-the-art DNA technology.
Now there’s a hunt to find anyone who knew Gerald Durocher, who officials said had connections throughout Ontario, but specifically Ottawa. Durocher was known to frequent the Vendome Hotel, which used to be near Somerset and Rochester streets before it was torn down.
In July 1988, recreational divers found a human skull in the Otonabee River, in the Town of Peterborough, just 130 feet from the shore of a residential area. A postmortem was conducted and it revealed it belonged to a male and that he was the victim of a homicide.
Further air and water searches were done but the rest of the body was never found.
As years progressed further DNA testing became available allowing police officers to eventually identify the skull as the remains of Durocher. He was born in 1949 and at the time of his death would have been 38 years old.
In 2021, officials sent the evidence to Texas which has a state-of-the-art forensics team with technology that could build a DNA profile of the victim. Using this team, police found two possible relatives of Durocher and interviewed them. It was through this process that further DNA testing by the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service led to the identification of the victim.
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“This case has never been forgotten and over the last three decades various methods were used in an attempt to identify the remains,” officials said.
As police continue the slow investigation of the case, they are hoping the public can help put the pieces together.
“Investigators are encouraging anyone with information pertaining to Durocher, or his death to come forward, noting that sometimes even the small details can play a large part in solving a case,” they said.
Those with information are asked to call Detective Constable Lacey White at 705-876-1122 ext. 266.