BC missing person case solved after 27 years
Posted May 22, 2012 2:55 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
POWELL RIVER (NEWS1130) – Loved ones of a man not seen since 1984 have some closure after a body was found in a lake near Powell River last month.
Francis John Howes, 51, was last seen on the morning of July 18, 1984 at the Powell Lake Marina where he kept his boat. The boat was later found tied up near his cabin on the lake, but Howes was never seen again.
Matt Brown with the BC Coroners Service says Howes’ body was found last month by a recreational diver about 90 feet under the lake’s surface.
“Well certainly being in that environment, there’s some change in the composition of the body,” he explains. “Through DNA analysis, that’s how we were able to identify him.”
Other missing persons cases were also reviewed to try and make the identification during a joint investigation with the RCMP’s Underwater Recovery Team.
Brown says the family is grateful but has asked for privacy. How Howes died is still unclear, although Brown says crime has been ruled out.
Powell Lake is about 25 km north of Powell River.
