Updated at 2:35 p.m.
The coroner's office in Sudbury said an autopsy did not turn up signs of foul play in the death of a man who was found in Junction Creek on Saturday evening.
“The preliminary finding is 'no anatomic cause of death' meaning there was nothing on the autopsy that was seen that would cause death – no signs of trauma or foul play, no obvious diseases,” said Dr. David Cameron, the regional supervising coroner for the North region, in an email to NorthernLife.ca. “Blood samples were taken for toxicology – results will likely take weeks.”
With the autopsy completed just this afternoon by Dr. Raymond Sawkiw, the coroner responsible for the case, Cameron said the man was somewhere around middle age and “likely Native.”
The coroner's office has not yet been able to identify him yet.
“We are trying to get fingerprints done, but the condition of the finger tips is poor due to exposure to the water,” Cameron said. “We can do DNA from the blood if we have something to match it to.
He said dental records could help identify the man, as well, provided a comparison could be found.
"Similarly, his face would be recognizable, so if we had a photograph we could compare,” Cameron said.
The deceased is described as a man, 30 to 50 years old, standing 5-5 and weighing 160 pounds. He had thick, shoulder-length black hair, and was missing a few of his upper teeth.
Police will be completing their search in the area of Junction Creek this afternoon.
This investigation is still being conducted under the jurisdiction of the Coroner.
Cameron concluded the information gathered as part of the forensic investigation is just “part of the puzzle” to piece the man's story together. Cross-referencing that information and following up on the leads the forensics uncovered will help find further answers.
Original story
The body found in Junction Creek on Saturday evening was there anywhere from a few weeks to several months, said Dr. David Cameron, the regional supervising coroner for the North region.
“It's a man,” Cameron said. “He's fairly well preserved in the cold water.”
Because the body, which was intact, contained a lot of silt, Cameron said it was in the creek for at least a few weeks.
Dr. Raymond Sawkiw, the coroner responsible for the case, has not yet performed a post-mortem on the body.
Cameron said the post-mortem will happen Monday or Tuesday.
“It's been a busy week for our region,” he said. “There were some cases coming in from Timmins.”
Cameron described the man found in the creek as “not young, but not old.”
He said the coroner will not be able to determine an approximate age until the autopsy is completed.
Cameron said police are now searching missing persons files in an effort to determine the man's identity.
“This guy isn't on our radar as a missing person,” Cameron said.
A post-mortem can find signs of trauma and disease, but Cameron said the cause of death often remains undetermined when a body is decomposing.
He added water deaths are not unusual.
“This type of finding is quite common,” Cameron said.
