'67 murder victim identified - Canada **Thanks begood!**'67 murder victim identified
By TRACY MCLAUGHLIN -- Toronto Sun
BARRIE -- Richard Hovey packed his backpack, slung his guitar case over his shoulder, and hitchhiked across Canada in 1967.
Then he mysteriously disappeared off the streets of Toronto.
Yesterday, with the help of modern forensic science, police were able to confirm that the 17-year-old musician matched the grisly remains of a human skeleton found almost 40 years ago.
The match confirmed another fear -- Hovey died horribly.
HANDS TIED
It was May 15, 1968, when a farmer ploughing a field near Schomberg made the discovery of rotting human remains lying against a wire fence, its boney arms tied behind its back with a white shoelace.
The victim's identity remained a mystery until OPP went public with the cold case last month.
Reconstructive artists used Hovey's skull to create a model of what the young man would have looked like. Within hours of going public, they received hundreds of tips -- one from a family member.
DNA confirmed the match.
"It was a hard reality for the family," OPP Det. Insp. Dave Quigley said. "After all these years of wondering, they weren't sure if this was good news or bad news. At least it brings closure. It puts an end to the wondering."
In a statement, Hovey's surviving brother and sister said they were "relieved to be able to bring our brother home after years of anguish. We loved him dearly."
Hovey headed to Toronto from his home in Fredericton to pursue his dream of being a musician. He sometimes performed at the Mynah Bird -- a "hippie joint" in the then ramshackle part of Yorkville known as a hotspot for many musicians, including Neil Young.
"He was a very gifted guitar player," Quigley said. "He bought his guitar at Sears but worked on it and painted it and made it look like a Fender guitar."
Quigley refused to comment on the similarities between Hovey's murder and murders committed by a convicted sex killer who was arrested in July 1967 -- around the time Hovey disappeared. James Henry Greenidge, 28, was sentenced to concurrent terms of 10 and seven years for manslaughter and attempted murder. After his release, he was charged and convicted of first-degree murder in the 1981 rape and slaying of a young Vancouver woman.
SECOND BODY FOUND
Police have yet to interrogate Greenidge about the Hovey case and another from December 1967. In that case, a hunter found human remains -- also with its hands tied -- in a wooded area near Coboconk.
"We are asking everyone to go onto our web site (www.opp.ca) and look at the reconstruction of this young man, and hopefully someone will come forward and another mystery will be solved with the help of the public," Quigley said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Resolve Initiative at 1-877-9FIND ME or via e-mail at opp.isb.resolve@jus.gov.on.ca.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/12/20/2895611-sun.html
Forumer™ is Voted #1 Free Forum Hosting provider
Build your own community today with the largest message board hosting company.