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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-12-21, Page 1010 News Record • Wednesday, December 21, 2016 Who was Darryl Coote Postmedia Network He said he was headed for London. That he had family there. That he was homeless by choice. That he was 57 years of age. And that his name was Mitchell Nelson. He said he had worked eight years in Edmonton. That he had worked the city's recent eco- nomic boom but now that the boom was over he was heading home. He said he had started his 3,000 -km journey around Can- ada Day. That he had canoed the Saskatchewan River from down- town Edmonton to North Battl- eford. And that he had then biked Highway 16 to the Trans Canada Highway and had con- tinued east into Ontario. What is known about the man who said all this is that his body washed ashore in Port Albert on Oct. 15, just over 100 kms north of his supposed destination. After two months of searching the police still have not been able to identify the body. Who was Mitchell Nelson? "We do not believe that is his real name," said Ontario Provin- cial Police (OPP) Constable Jamie Stanley. From his Goderich detach- ment office in early December, the OPP officer told The Signal Star that at first it seemed like it would be a rather straightfor- ward case. "We thought we were going to be able to identify him once we got the photos from the M itchell Nelson? Ai reporter," Stanley said. The photos are of an older, thin, grey-haired man with a beat up blue bicycle pulling a green 15 -foot canoe along the highway. The man supposedly named Mitchell Nelson. All the information known about him comes from an arti- cle published Sept. 16 by Sault Ste. Marie's SooToday. The reporter had interviewed the man outside of Espanola in mid-September. OPP released those photos to the public nine days after the body was found. "We have a dead body, we have really good photos taken of that individual prior to his death, it's just for some reason we haven't been able to connect with somebody who knows him," he said. From birth certificate records and social insurance number databases to tax returns and border crossing information, and even contacting shelters along his supposed route, Stan- ley says the OPP have done an "exhaustive" search for the name "Mitchell Nelson" and nothing has come up. Mitchell Nelson could be a variation of his actual name, Stanley said, and the OPP don't necessarily think he lied to the reporter, "but that name's not coming up." Stanley said there's nothing to suggest it is suspicious, but they want to tell his family of his passing and "provide some closure." We have a dead body, we have really good photos taken of that individual prior to his death, it's just for some reason we haven't been able to connect we somebody who knows him. — Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Constable Jamie Stanley And mirroring the man's life, his death is still technically undetermined. Again, Stanley said this is not suspicious as there was "nothing suspicious on the body" nor is this clarification uncommon. Lots of similar cases have this as the cause of death, he said. The OPP estimate the time of death within two weeks of find- ing his body. His bicycle and canoe are still missing. What is known for certain about this man is that he left an impression on the communities he passed through during his journey. With his long canoe yoked by a contraption made from junk to a beat -up old bicycle, the man quietly grabbed attention throughout Ontario. The Signal Star has been able to trace his route through eye- witness accounts to Labour Day weekend travelling from Wawa to Sault Ste. Marie. From Sault Ste. Marie, the man then travelled the Trans ATTENTION ADVERTISERS! DEADLINES Our Weekly Deadlines are as follows: ADVERTISING & EDITORIAL Friday @ 2:00 pm Clinton e Nws Record www.clintonnewsrecord.com 53 Albert St. S, Clinton PH: 519-482-3443 ,i POSTMEDIA OFFICE HOURS: Mon. - Fri. 9am - 5pm CLOSED TUESDAYS ), Canada Highway to Espanola where he was stopped by the reporter for SooToday. That reporter declined to speak with The Signal Star. That article states the man intended to canoe to the east side of Manitoulin Island and then across Georgian Bay. On the island, another reporter stopped him, this time from the Manitoulin Expositor, on Sept. 17. OPP confirmed that he took the Chi-Cheemaun ferry to Tobermory on the Bruce Penin- sula, where he made his south. Michigan freelance writer AnnMarie Rowland snapped a picture of the man on the morn- ing of Sept. 22 just south of Wiar- ton on Highway 21. "I knew I had to get a photo of him, so although I was headed toward Wiarton and he away, I turned my car around and went back," she wrote to The Signal Star. She said she thought he was an "interesting member of the local colour" and was curious as to why a man would be towing a canoe. She was taken by the determi- nation of his stride, she said, of his focused gaze as he trudged forth through the rain. "He didn't look up when I stopped. He didn't seem to be interested in more than putting his right foot ahead of his left then his left before his right. 'Just keep walking,' was what I imag- ined he was thinking," she said. She posted the photo that Sep- tember day to a Facebook group called "Sh*t You See in Grey & Bruce," which is mainly used to poke fun, often mean -spiritedly, at the area. The post gamered encouraging comments cheering him on and others documenting where they had seen him and at what time. "Good for him," one person wrote. "This is fantastic," another wrote. Rowland now regrets not hav- ing spoken to him. CONTINUED > PAGE 11 Courtesy OPP This is one of four photos published in mid- September by the SooToday of the name known as Mitchell Nelson. Police do not believe that is his real name and are still trying to identify the body. w• • ••• ...MS 114 lime 0.NOM, lig 0I•r* a +o.1 OvO *.+..a..s. slams mai •"..... • w.. far— rr. W .r.. o! •..r•. 13•ri. ,..w. o, 7.04•.•• .K... •n• 01 r..•••_ 771111 111 IWO s Imre w.rr.GOOF UMW .00WN, Wine ...wafts it lY ••r. Q• s..•.... . •..,r . " - •46.••., 49 unfree wq•M... a �.. n... 0.. ..R•r .- -..e- ll....0, •_,.. %aweOwIr. • .••7 NMI OM, Lao 'Uwe 0 w rw+• a • •tD•• ••••. �.r..rol�wwrr •••r aw wafts 411•006.11~11. V+ .•V. O. M+.+.•• a I MT W ••.. - - n g r.. 111,110••••••• •..• •• O...r•...• 4. •••••••••• •••••••• •'110.0ari•ron IN ash woe tuft W •... o • ...re.. 4 ..410- Courtesy OPP People from all over Bruce and Huron Counties recall seeing the man who went by the name Mitchell Nelson. Michigan freelance writer AnnMarie Rowland's Facebook post of her sighting of the man generated a lot of comments from others who had also seen him as he travelled west along Highway 21.