Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man whose body was found near the Halifax Stanfield International Airport 10 years ago.
The RCMP responded to a report of human remains found in a wooded area off Highway 102 on Oct. 8, 2004.
Police say his body had been in the woods between five and seven days. They won’t say how he died, but do say there was evidence of an old injury, and that foul play is not suspected.
“During the autopsy the medical examiner noted the man had a previously broken tibia,” says RCMP Det. Const. Michael Cheeseman.
Investigators have been unable to confirm the man’s identity but would like to return his remains to his family.
He is described as a physically-fit male, believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s, with unbraided, medium-length dreadlocks.
“We had evidence that he had dreadlocks from the photos at the scene and possibly that he had facial hair,” says RCMP forensic artist Sgt. Michel Fournier.
He was five-foot-eleven and weighed 160 pounds. Police say he appeared to have both ears pierced, although no jewelry was found.
The man was wearing a multi-coloured dress shirt, an Emilio brand grey sweater, Lee blue jeans, and new beige Timberland hiking boots when he was found.
A pair of Dolce and Gabbana prescription glasses and a McKinley backpack containing a number of clothing items were found near his body.
Police say some of the items in his backpack, such as a Madrid football jersey, indicate he may have been from Europe.
“I know they weren’t able to be purchased in Halifax,” says Cheeseman, referring to the glasses.
He says someone matching the man’s description was seen at the airport in 2004, but that there was nothing to indicate whether he had just arrived in Halifax.
Anyone with information on the man’s identity is asked to contact police.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant
