Toronto police identify missing Swiss woman found dead in Lake Ontario in 2017
Posted May 22, 2024 10:31 am.
Last Updated May 22, 2024 11:22 am.
Toronto police have identified a European woman who was found dead in Lake Ontario in 2017 with the help of investigators in Switzerland.
Authorities were first called to Humber Bay Shores Park in Etobicoke on August 10, 2017, for an unknown trouble. There, they located a woman’s body in the water.
The woman had no identification or possessions, and a composite image was released. She was found wearing a red tank top and navy blue pants and had healed mammoplasty scars.
Toronto police attempted to identify the missing woman by searching Canada-wide missing person cases and through public appeals for information, but no match was found.
Toronto police use genetic genealogy
In January 2023, authorities in Toronto received approval to use genetic genealogy as part of the investigation, which revealed distant relatives of the deceased throughout North America, most of whom traced their heritage to a specific region in Switzerland.
Toronto police reached out to authorities in Switzerland in August 2023, and through collaboration, the investigation focused on a woman who was reported missing in Switzerland in September 2017.
A DNA comparison between the deceased woman and relatives of the missing person confirmed a match. Swiss police have since notified her family.
Toronto police said because the woman’s death is not considered a criminal matter, her identity is not being released.
Genetic genealogy utilizes the analysis of DNA variations to provide insights into a person’s ethnic background, help identify biological relatives, and trace ancestral migration patterns.
