OPP has officially closed a missing person case 37 years in the making thanks to advancement of DNA analysis technology.
Police opened the case in 1986 after receiving a report that Agnes May Appleyard, 71 years old at the time, was missing from a property on Highway 520 near Emsdale.
According to police, human remains were found near the property nearly a year later. Officials say at that time the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service were unable to determine the identity of the deceased person.
The OPP’s investigation led to the arrest of an 82-year-old male, now deceased, who was charged with second degree murder in 1988 and was acquitted in court.
Police share after the acquittal, they reopened the investigation, leading to the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service requesting familial DNA samples in an effort to identify the remains.
They add advancement of DNA analysis technology at the Centre of Forensic Science confirmed the remains found in 1987 were those of Agnes Appleyard.