In the almost 24 years since human remains were found on a mountain in Banff National Park, RCMP say an identification has still not been made.
According to police, on July 11, 1998, a tour guide made the grisly discovery while on the back side of Sulphur Mountain, an area he was well-acquainted with.
“(The tour guide) had done that route quite often” said Cpl. Natalie Rice with the Banff RCMP detachment, “probably three or four times before discovering the bones.”
Rice said it was a human skull that was found. The bottom of the jaw was missing, but some top teeth were still present.
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Along with the remains, several items were also located nearby. These included a key belonging to a Chrysler vehicle, a War Amps tag, a black leather wallet with the word “amity” written in gold letters and photographs.
The vehicle that the key belonged to was never found.
A report from the medical examiner said the man was believed to 19 to 35 years old, but likely closer to 25. He is also thought to have been dead for multiple years prior to the discovery.
Two sketches of the man have been released — one in 2001 and the other in 2018. Searches through the National DNA Data Bank and missing persons files have not yielded any results.
University of Alberta forensic anthropologist Pamela Mayne Correia worked on the case in 2015. She said it is not unusual that the man or any of his potential family have yet to be identified.
“People lose track of people and you don’t realize you haven’t seen them for 10 years,” Mayne Correia said. “Then you see it on the news… and you’re going, ‘Oh, gosh, I haven’t seen him for ages… I know who that is.’
“That’s kind of how it helps to trigger everybody to think about those people that they haven’t seen for a while in their lives.”
RCMP are asking anyone who may have information about the man’s identity to contact them, their local police department or Crime Stoppers.
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