A man whose body was found inside a burned vehicle in Squamish in 2017 has now been identified as U.S. resident Davis Wolfgang Hawke.
Hawke’s body was found inside a burned red 2000 GMC Yukon XL located on the Cheekye Forest Road just north of Squamish on June 14, 2017.
Cpl. Frank Jang of the RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said Thursday that Hawke was also known in the local Squamish community as Jesse James, an avid local climber.
Little is known about Hawke, 38, Jang said, other than that he died from a gunshot wound before being burned in the vehicle. It has been determined Hawke was in legal possession of the vehicle at the time of his death.
“This case has been shrouded in mystery since that time,” Jang said.
Hawke was reported missing by his family in the U.S. a number of years ago, Jang said, but it’s not known at this time when he came to Canada.
“This case truly is a mystery and we’re hoping some people know something now that we know his name,” Jang added.
“It is truly a case of ‘who-done-it’?”
Jang added that Hawke has no history of any criminal activity in Canada but police are working with U.S. authorities to determine more about his life in the United States.
RCMP said they are aware of a Wikipedia file describing a man with the same name as a “Neo-Nazi spammer from Rhode Island.”
The page says that in 2004, AOL won a $12.8 million judgement against Hawke for violating anti-spam laws.
RCMP has not confirmed this is the same man and Wikipedia can be filled with inaccuracies as anyone can edit a page.
“From my understanding, I think he was a person who really didn’t want to be known if he was going by an alias, he wasn’t using his real name,” Jang added Thursday. “So there’s more than one question on this case.”
If anyone has any information on Hawke, they are asked to contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or email them.