An infamous incident from eight years ago is back in the public spotlight this week.
On May 9, 2003, cleaning staff at the Northbrook Inn in Grand Rapids reported to police that they had discovered the body of a dead Asian man in a chair in one of the hotel rooms.
The man did not have any identification with him, but had checked into the hotel at 3:30 a.m. that morning under the name Deuong Cheron. He was found to have a small black cloth bag with him, containing clothing and herbal medication prescribed under the name Sang Dae Park.
Attempts were made to identify the man - who was estimated to have been between 30 and 50 years of age at his death and believed to be of either Chinese or Korean heritage - but he was never successfully identified.
A police investigation determined that the man had arrived in Grand Rapids on a regularly-scheduled bus from Thompson. RCMP say they believe the man is not from Manitoba.
Now, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have entered the fray. Members of the OPP Missing Persons Unidentified Bodies unit have joined forces with Manitoba RCMP to try and identify the body.
"Even though foul play is not suspected, we believe this individual deserves to be identified and his loved ones and friends deserve peace of mind knowing what became of him," said OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis.
In July 2010, the Winnipeg Free Press, calling the case "the biggest mystery eluding Manitoba murder investigators," reported that the man had hanged himself in his hotel room.
"The name he used to check into the motel has been cross-referenced to practically every missing-persons list in North America, and in Asian countries," reported the Free Press. "They've even run variations of [Sang Dae Park]. No luck. Fingerprints have been run through databases with no matches, which implies he's never done anything criminal."
An official from the South Korean Embassy in Ottawa even came to Winnipeg to run the fingerprints through the database of that country - where every citizen is fingerprinted once they turn 18. Again there was no match, meaning the man either was not Korean or was Korean but left the country as a child.
"Despite rapid advancements in technologies that allow people within our society to keep in constant communication and connect effortlessly with one another, there are still many cases in which a person can go missing, and this is of great concern," said Chief Supt. Mike Sekela of RCMP Manitoba Criminal Operations. "The RCMP in Manitoba works very closely with all policing partners across the country, including the OPP. With this type of cross-jurisdictional cooperation and the public's assistance, we are confident this person will get the attention they so deserve."
The OPP Missing Persons Unidentified Bodies Unit currently has 428 unsolved missing persons and 206 unsolved unidentified bodies on file.
