The mother of a Toronto man reported missing last year says police told her a body they believe is her son’s was recently found in Lake Ontario.
Rosemarie White-Johnson’s 26-year-old son, Raheem White, was last seen on Dec. 1 2021, at around 3:30 p.m., in the Osler Street and Pelham Avenue area.
Police later said White’s vehicle was located in a parking lot near Sunnyside Beach. Officers said his wallet was located inside the vehicle, but said his phone was missing.
In an interview with Global News on Thursday, White-Johnson said she was notified by police on Wednesday that a man’s body — believed to be her son’s — was located in Lake Ontario.
Witnesses reported seeing a body at Toronto’s Sunnyside Beach on Monday.
Global News reached out to Toronto police, but the force has not yet confirmed the identity of the body located on Monday, or whether foul play is suspected.
However, White-Johnson said officers told her the man’s death does not appear to be suspicious.
White-Johnson told Global News that officers have not yet asked her to identify the body.
What’s more, White-Johnson said she does not believe her son’s disappearance was ever properly investigated.
“I don’t know if there was an actual investigation to begin with,” she said.
White-Johnson claims there was a lot of suspicious activity, including suspected sightings of her son, that she believes were not adequately followed-up on.
“There are a lot of questions that have never really been answered, a lot of people who never really were able to get clarity as to what happened that particular day,” White-Johnson said.
White-Johnson said she has contacted the province’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
In an email to Global News Thursday evening, a spokesperson for the agency said “there is no SIU investigation in this case.”
However, White-Johnson believes whatever caused her son’s disappearance “will come to light.”
“Whatever it is and whatever has caused it, it will come to light,” she said.