Cold Case Victim Finally Identified After 40 Years
Posted December 19, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
His name was Richard Hovey and he came to Toronto in 1966 at the tender age of 17. He brought his guitar and a pocket full of dreams as he wandered around the hip scene that was Yorkville in the 60s.
But those ideals were shattered a year later, when the New Brunswick musician suddenly disappeared.
His family and friends never knew what happened to him – until Tuesday. Forty years after he vanished, the O.P.P. have determined Hovey was one of two men found in a remote area in Ontario, the apparent victims of the same killer.
His body was discovered May 15, 1968 in the Shomberg area. He was naked, there were no clothes around his remains and his arms were tied behind his back. For four long decades he remained a John Doe.
Then officers revived the case, using a bust of his likeness, pleading with anyone to come forward who thought they recognized him.
Someone did.
Using DNA and information from his family, forensic specialists were able to definitively identify the young man who had been missing so long.
His relatives back in Fredericton issued a statement they’d come to believe they’d never make.
“We are very relieved to be able to bring our brother home after years of anguish. We loved him dearly. We wish to thank the Ontario Provincial Police for their hard work and thoughtfulness. The family does not wish to make further public statement and would appreciate it if their privacy could be respected in this time of grief.”
The cold case heated up last November, when the O.P.P. used modern technology to re-ignite the investigation. Cops are overjoyed that their gamble paid off, because finding out who the victim was is the first step to finding out how he ended up in that lonely field.
“I’m sure that you can imagine what it would feel like to know that one of your loved ones was missing for over 40 years, and eventually, through years and years, you were able to bring that person home,” relates Supt. Angie Howe.
But this mystery still endures.
Cops have no idea what happened to all the items he brought with him, including his precious guitar. “He would have belongings that were dear to him that were abandoned at some point,” explains Det. Insp. Dave Quigley. “We’re hoping to be able to find out where he was living and where this property was abandoned.”
Hovey was known to frequent the old Mynah Bird club, and disappeared from the Church St. area sometime in Canada’s Centennial Year.
But while Hovey has a name, another family continues to wait and wonder. A victim found a year later in a Coboconk field under disturbingly similar conditions still hasn’t been identified.
Cops are hoping a break in that case will cause this now warmer investigation to go straight to full boil.
It’s believed though the bodies were found in different areas one person was responsible for both slayings. Also, police theorize that the victims met their killer in Toronto’s gay village.
A $50,000 reward is out for information that leads to that person.
If you have information long buried or long forgotten, call the Resolve Initiative at 1-877-9FIND ME (1-877-934-6363) or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Here’s the official O.P.P. version of what they know about both of these cases.
Richard Hovey (identified victim):
On May 15, 1968, a human skeleton was found lying against a wire fence in a hedgerow, by a man ploughing a field near Schomberg, Ontario. The remains were located in the east half of Lot 17, Concession 2, Tecumseth Township, 2 kms. (1.3 miles) north of Highway 9, on the west side of Sideroad 17.
Richard Hovey is described as a white male, 17 years old (at the time of his death), 165 cm. (5 ft. 5 in. – 5 ft. 6 in.) tall, of average build, teeth in generally good condition, blond hair about 10 cm. (6 in.) long.
Hovey’s body appeared to have been lying on its left side with the arms behind the back. A white shoelace was wrapped twice around one wrist and knotted. It appeared that the wrists might have been tied together with this lace.
No clothes were found on or in the vicinity of Hovey’s body.
Unidentified victim:
On December 17, 1967, a hunter found human skeletal remains in a wooded area of Balsam Lake Provincial Park near Coboconk, Ontario.
The victim is described as white male, approximately 15 to 22 years old, 160 cm (5 ft. 3 in.) tall and slight build. His teeth were in good condition with some fillings on the lower left and right front molars. He had a noticeable gap between the two front teeth. His hair was light brown, slightly curly and about 7.6 cm (3 in.) long.
The victim had several distinguishing features: a unique condition in which he had an extra vertebrae and extra rib on the right side; he also had a condition that might have caused his jaw to frequently become dislocated.
There was no evidence of clothing at the scene. A pair of low-cut, size 7, white tennis shoes, manufactured in Czechoslovakia were found some distance from the remains. A 3.4 m. (11 ft.) length of twine was found with the skeleton and had a knotted loop immediately adjacent to the hand and wrist bones.
The time of death for both victims is estimated to be late spring or early summer of 1967.
No cause of death has been determined for either victim but due to the condition in which each victim was found, it is believed that both young men were murdered.
It’s believed that each victim may have been picked up by his attacker in downtown Toronto. In the summer of 1967, two other young men were picked up in the Bay and College area of Toronto, and were taken to rural areas where they were attacked. The offences and victims were very similar to the investigations of the unidentified victim found at Balsam Lake and Richard Hovey.
Courtesy: OPP
To see a map of where the still unknown victim was found, click here. (.pdf)
To see other cold cases, including photos, going back to the 1970s, click here. (Warning: some pictures may be disturbing.)
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