His body washed ashore near the Ontario-U.S border in 2003. Now, police have an ID

The Ontario Provincial Police say the identity of an American man’s body found almost 22 years ago near the Ontario-U.S border has been solved using investigative genetic genealogy, giving his family closure.

On May 29, 2003, a man’s body was discovered from the Livingston Channel Detroit River, just west of Amherstburg, Ont — a small town south of Windsor.

For more than two decades, police were unable to ID the body. The OPP’s Essex county detachment began an investigation and several attempts were made to identify the remains with no positive results.

The man was wearing dark coloured pants, a dark shirt and a winter coat as well as mountain shoes.

In early 2023, DNA was submitted for investigative genetic genealogy to identify the man. A few months later, police said through genealogy support by Toronto Police, a “presumptive” ID was determined.

“In September 2024, a family member’s DNA was used to confirm that the male was 48-year-old, James Raymond Stewart of Detroit, Michigan who went missing in November 2002,” police said.

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The following month, Stewart’s family members traveled to Amherstburg, Ont. to visit Stewart’s gravestone.

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The family said Stewart was born May 31, 1954. His sister said in a video posted to YouTube by OPP that Stewart was a “sensitive” and “quiet” man. He worked a couple years in the navy in the 70s and then worked in Detroit area restaurants.

The family lived in Arizona and his sister said Thanksgiving was always bittersweet as that was around the time Stewart went missing.

“It’s closure for us because we had no idea,” his sister said. “Both of our parents died and had no idea.”

“So we’re just celebrating the fact that now we have closure … He wont be a John Doe anymore.”

https://x.com/OPP_News/status/1876314215658438710

The cause of death was undetermined, according to the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service. However, police said “foul play was not suspected in his death.”

“After two decades, we were finally able to provide this family with answers about James, thanks to investigative genetic genealogy,” said Det. Insp. Randy Gaynor with the OPP.

“This investigative tool has proven to be invaluable, enabling law enforcement to solve even decades-old cases and offering hope to others facing similar circumstances,” Gaynor continued. “Its ability to connect distant relatives through DNA has transformed the landscape of historic homicide and unidentified human remains investigations.”