"I heard today that the clothing on the body recovered in Welsh Bay matched what LC was believed to be wearing when he disappeared, but it may take a while to confirm identity.
A body believed to be that of missing National Research Council scientist Lachlan Cranswick was pulled from the Ottawa River on Friday.
OTTAWA - A body pulled from the Ottawa River near Deep River on Friday is almost certainly that of Lachlan Cranswick, the National Research Council scientist who went missing earlier this year, according to a friend of Cranswick's.
The case of the 41-year-old physicist who worked at the Chalk River Laboratories, baffled police in January. Cranswick, unmarried and originally from Australia, was last seen on the 18th of that month, and appeared to have put out his garbage the next morning. Only four days later, after he failed to turn up a curling event, did the search begin. But the trail was cold, with nothing to suggest either foul play or suicide. His wallet and laptop were in his unlocked home and his car was parked there, too. Extensive ground searches using dogs and helicopters also found nothing.
But on Monday, Chris Knight, a friend of Cranswick's, said police have informed the scientist's family in Australia that the body pulled from the river is all but officially confirmed to be his.
"They've been told that the clothes and identification on the body that was recovered virtually confirm that it's him," Knight said. "They have to do the forensic work to give a 100-per-cent confirmation, but there's virtually no doubt that it's him."
Knight said there will be a full autopsy, which could shed some light on how Cranswick died.
Cranswick enjoyed the ski-snowshoe trails, Knight said, but exactly how he ended up in the river, which was covered in only thin ice at the time, is still unexplained.
There had been spottings of wolves in the previous weeks,†said Knight, a retired scientist. "In fact, one fellow I talked to the other day told me that he had actually been chased by them. He had to hustle and run into the townsite."
"It's pure speculation on my part, but I don't see Lachlan as someone who was going to go out and try to walk across the river ... when the conditions weren't great, but he may have been forced into the situation.
If the autopsy concludes that Cranswick fell through the ice and drowned, it may never be known whether he was chased by wolves.
"We won't know that," said Knight. "We'll just know he went through the ice."
Knight said the family has decided to have Cranswick's body cremated and his ashes sent to Australia.
Thanks for the update.