The body of a person found floating in Lake Ontario’s Inner Harbour area in 1992 has been identified as a Saskatchewan man who police say was not reported missing.
The man was found on July 27, 1992, when police responded to a call for a man’s body found in the water. At the time it was determined the death was not suspicious, police said.
The identity of the man came after the case was selected for investigative genetic genealogy in 2025. A DNA profile of the man was obtained and uploaded to public databases on Jan. 8, 2026.
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According to police, less than five days after it was uploaded, investigators said they believed the unknown man could be named Kevin, who was originally from Saskatchewan.
This led investigators to people believed to be Kevin’s relatives in Western Canada. A DNA sample was obtained from a close relative and sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences for comparison.
Last month, DNA testing confirmed on March 9 the unknown man was indeed Kevin. His family was then notified about the positive identification and they were provided with details of where he had been buried.
Police say Kevin was never reported missing, but “those who loved him had long feared what had happened to him” as they hadn’t heard from him for years.
A surname was not provided by police for Kevin and no further information was provided why one was not included.
The investigation was conducted as part of Toronto police’s humanitarian initiative known as Project 31. The initiative began in 2022 and has since identified 10 people.
Project 31 was named for the 31 open Toronto Police Service cases involving long-term unidentified deceased people who have DNA material readily available. The goal is to identify all 31 people through DNA-based investigative techniques, including using investigative genetic genealogy.
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