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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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and for a more detailed list of content warnings please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
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[Music] website when 23-year-old Duncan mcferson left his hometown of Saskatoon Canada
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for a new job in Scotland in August 1989 his parents weren't worried from a young age Duncan had
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always shown incredible bravery and Independence he was just 3 years old when he first insisted on taking the B
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pass to a doctor's appointment all by himself the bus driver had refused to pick him up on account of his age but
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that didn't deter the toddler he simply figured out how to get on another bus Instead This level of courage and
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determination followed Duncan into his teenage years bolstered by his strong physical
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stature he developed a passion for ice hockey and spent years honing his skills becoming a prized defense fman for the
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Saskatoon blades where he earned the nickname mcferson his hard work paid off in 1984
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when at the age of 18 he was picked in the first round by the New York Islanders as part of the National Hockey
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League professional draft this meant a move across the border into the United States away from
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the comfort of his close-knit family for 5 years Duncan devoted his life to the game before the team cut him
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loose he wasn't too disappointed though while he adored ice hockey he had no interest in the politics that went on
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behind the scenes in the Major League Duncan told his mother he was happy to be moving on and ready for the
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next step in his life he accepted a well-paid job as the head coach for the dunde Tigers I hockey
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team in Scotland and left Canada for Europe on Wednesday August 2 198 9 on Friday August 11 Duncan's mother
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Linda mcferson Woke Up in the middle of the night screaming her husband Bob was sleeping
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beside her and was roused by the commotion he tried to calm Linda down assuring her she'd just had a bad
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dream but Linda's instincts told her otherwise something terrible has happened to Duncan she
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[Music] [Music] cried the last time Linda mcferson had spoken to Duncan was a week earlier on
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Friday August 4 1989 he'd called home to let his family know that he'd arrived safe in Germany
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where he was staying with his close friend George pesit Duncan told his mother he was
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exhausted from the long International Journey while he was unsure of his exact plans he said he was going to spend some
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time traveling and relaxing before his coaching job with the Dundee Tigers officially commenced on Monday August
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14th Duncan promised Linda that he'd touch base with her again when he arrived in
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Scotland on Saturday August 12th the day after Linda's nightmare she eagerly waited for that
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call something in her gut was telling her that Duncan was not okay even when he'd been living in
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America he never went more than a few days without checking in with his parents that Goring fear of only
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intensified when the mcferson still hadn't heard from Duncan by Monday August 14 the day he was scheduled to
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start his job with the Dundee tigers in the days before the internet and cell phones it wasn't easy to make
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contact with overseas Travelers for days Linda Sat by the phone urging it to ring she tried to reassure herself that
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Duncan was probably just busy with his new job and would be in touch soon on Wednesday August 16 the phone finally
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rang it was a hockey friend of Duncan who lived in Europe he was trying to track a Duncan
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down because he'd had just spoken to the dundy Tiger's team manager it looked like Duncan had never
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made it to Scotland it was an anxiety filled 24 hours for Linder and Bob mcferson until
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they fin finally made contact with Duncan's friend George pesut the following day Thursday August
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17th George was a Canadian ice hockey player who had recently accepted a position on a German team and he was
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living in the German city of nurmberg he told the mcferson that he and Duncan had spent a couple of days together
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before George had to go away for training camp on August 7 Duncan wanted to visit some friends
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and do some traveling so George lent him his car a red opal corser the plan was for Duncan to be
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back in nurburg by August 11 to return George's car and catch his flight to Scotland but George said he'd just
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returned from his training camp to his surprise Duncan's hockey bag was still there but Duncan and the opal
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corser were not after making a few more calls the mcferson discovered that on Monday
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August 7 Duncan had left nurg and driven 3 hours North to the Bavarian town of fan there he stayed with his friend
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Roger another Canadian ice hockey player who was living in Europe it was a short but enjoyable
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visit the two played tennis together and then went out for dinner where Roger got
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a kick out of Duncan's attempts to walk without speaking a word of German Duncan stayed at Roger house that
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night then hit the road again at around lunchtime the following day of Tuesday August
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8th Roger told the mcferson he wasn't entirely sure of Duncan's plans from there Fen is just 1 km north of the
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Austrian border and only a few hours drive from Italy Duncan had mentioned wanting to
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visit a friend in the Itali Ian city of balzano but nothing was set in stone he'd departed from Rogers with no
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specific plans and neither Roger George nor any of Duncan's other contacts in Europe had heard from him
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since upon learning this information Linda's heart sank she and her husband had raised
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Duncan and his brother to be reliable respectful and a trustworthy young man while Duncan was definitely Keen for
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an adventure after years dedicated to hockey he was a rule follower who adored his
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family there was no way he would have just taken off and de bailed on his job commitment without so much as a phone
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call he also had a lot of respect for George pesut and would never run off with his car without seeking permission
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first the mcferson contacted their Bank to find out when Duncan had last came to
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one of his Travelers checks they were told it was Monday August 7 the day Duncan visited Roger in
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fan this meant that 10 days had passed without Duncan accessing any of his money the mcferson anxiety sparked as
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they considered all possibilities what if Duncan had accidentally driven George's car off the
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road and he was concealed in a dear chore mountain side somewhere what if he' picked up a hitchhiker who
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caused him harm in the 1980s kidnappings for ransom weren't unheard of in Italy what if
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Duncan had unwittingly crossed paths with the [Music] mafia after two more days passed with no
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word from Duncan on Sunday August 20 the mcferson contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP and reported the
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23-year-old to be missing to their surprise their situation wasn't treated with any sense
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of urgency instead they were told to call back again during regular office hours
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on Monday when the mcferson finally made contact with the police the next day the
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officers they spoke to told them not to worry Duncan was an adult who was free to do as he pleased
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like many other young foreigners he'd likely just gotten caught up in an adventure or had met a girl and would
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resurface again soon or maybe he intended to disappear for a while which as an adult he was
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free to do the mcferson didn't believe any of these reasons for a second Not only would they have been
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completely out of character for Duncan he also had a girlfriend back at home and the two had been making plans for
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her to come and visit him in Scotland when Duncan still hadn't contacted anyone by Wednesday August 23
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the RCMP finally alerted Interpol and a bulletin was distributed to police stations and border crossings throughout
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Europe while the mcferson were relieved to know that Duncan was officially being
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treated as a missing person the authorities continued to reassure them that he'd likely show up soon
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Linda and Bob felt completely helpless waiting around in Saskatoon they realized that the only
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way to ensure the search for their son was taken seriously was to fly to Europe and to do it
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themselves on Sunday August 27 the couple touched down in Germany armed with 2,000 missing person posters
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printed in various languages by now Duncan had been missing for well over 2 weeks their first stop was to the
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missing person's unit of the Newberg police like the RCMP the officer in charge assured the worried parents that
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Duncan was likely off chasing romance at 6'1 he was a strong athletic young man and he'd be able to take care
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of himself in the face of danger Linda pointed out that 20 days had passed since he'd last cashed one of
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his traveler checks still this raised no alarm bells for the police officer he assured the
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mcferson that the girl Duncan was with was probably Rich frustrated that they weren't being
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taken seriously Linder and Bob rented a car and began tracing Duncan's movements
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themselves this was no easy feat for the middle-aged couple they were modest people who enjoyed a quiet and wholesome
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life neither of them had ever been to Europe before and they didn't speak any of the local
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languages Linda was a school teacher and Bob a small plane pilot they'd won their home in a raffle
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which had afforded them a comfortable upbringing for their two boys venturing across Europe to take on
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the authorities was far beyond their comfort zone but they both remained con convinced that they'd find Duncan no
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matter [Music] what Duncan had cashed his last traveler check at a travel agency in
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nurburg the mcferson went there and showed the staff a photo of their son one of the agents recalled serving
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Duncan there on Monday August 7 he had put a deposit down for a flight to the Scottish city of Glasgow set to
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depart 5 days later on Saturday August August 12th this was the same date he told his
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parents he would contact them from Scotland according to the travel agent Duncan said he'd return to the office
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the day before the flight to pay the remaining balance and pick up his ticket but he never
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did from there the mcferson drove to Fen the German Town where Duncan was last seen by his friend
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Roger studying a map they tried to put themselves in Duncan's shoes given Fan's proximity to both
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Austria and Italy it made sense to assume he might have visited one of the nearby towns in either
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country Austria offered worldclass skiing while Northern Italy offered wind surfing both activities that would
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appeal to the outdoor sport-loving Duncan he'd mentioned to Roger that he'd like to visit Italy's Lake Garda which
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was about a 5H hour Drive south of fen Bob and Linda mcferson set out on this route stopping at every Regional
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Police Station along the way for days they traversed all the areas they thought Duncan might have
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visited Plastering his missing person posters while on the constant lookout for George's red opal
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corser they checked with officials at the border crossings in Italy and Switzerland nobody they spoke to
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recalled seeing Duncan in fact to Bob and Linda's horror none of the Border officials or Regional
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Police were even aware of their son's case in spite of what they'd been told by the RCMP it didn't appear that an
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interpo bulletin had been sent out this meant that Duncan could have been passing through any number of towns
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and countries without anyone even being aware that he was a missing person [Music]
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Linda and Bob continued to go over every possible scenario in a desperate Bard to
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figure out what could have happened to their son soon another unnerving possibility
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began to enter their minds a few months before Duncan had left for Europe he'd fulfilled a dream
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of his by hiking North America's Appalachian Trail while it had been a positive experience for the nature lover he'd
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returned with an unwanted souvenir Lyme disease transmitted by tick bit Lyme disease is typically characterized by a
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rash body aches fever and fatigue Duncan had fully recovered by the time he left for Europe but after
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his disappearance his parents learned that in rare cases Lyme disease can leave individuals with memory loss
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confusion and personality changes they wondered whether Duncan could be experiencing these
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symptoms maybe he was alive somewhere but suffering from some kind of neurological
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episode there was also an odd comment that Duncan had made to his family in the months before his
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trip out of nowhere he told Linda that a recruiter from the Central Intelligence
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Agency had tracked him down and asked if be interested in working as a spy this wasn't a far-fetched
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offer intelligent athletic types like Duncan made attractive recruits Linda had told Duncan it
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sounded like an exciting opportunity but he said he wasn't interested working for the CIA would
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mean changing his identity and leaving his family behind which he wasn't prepared to
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do while it's seemed unlikely the mcferson wondered whether Duncan had changed his mind and accepted a position
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with the agency after all they also had a niggling feeling that something wasn't quite right about
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the job that Duncan had accepted with the dunde Tigers in Scotland he'd been offered the position
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by a Canadian businessman named Ron Dixon who had recently bought the team Ron offered Duncan the high-paying
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role even though the two had never met Duncan had been a little dubious he told his family there was
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something off about Ron Dixon and his offer but he'd pushed his concerns aside knowing it was too good an opportunity
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to turn down Ron said that Duncan had called him at some point during his travels in
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Europe he wasn't sure of the exact date but he believed it was most likely on Thursday August 10
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this was 2 Days After Duncan was last seen leaving fussan and 2 days before his flight to
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Scotland the mcferson had no idea what to think every possibility was on the table from foreign intelligence to
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Amnesia to fair play yet they were no closer to a [Music] breakthrough almost almost a month had
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passed with no reported sightings of Duncan then on Thursday September 14 Linda had an instinctive feeling that
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she knew where he was when she and Bob had first driven from fan to Italy their route had taken
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them through the Austrian city of insbrook known as the capital of the Alps it was a Charming City nestled
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amongst the stunning mountain peaks that was known for offering a wide range of winter
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Sports boasting impressive architecture Alpine views and easy access to the ski slopes it was exactly the kind of place
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that would have appealed to Duncan it was also only a 2-hour drive from Fen given that Duncan had just two days
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after leaving Roger before he was due back in nurenberg Linda reasoned that he wouldn't have wanted to waste too much
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of that time behind the wheel it therefore made sense to her that Duncan would have decided to stop in
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inbrook for the night before seeing the sight the following day Linda and Bob returned to Winbrook
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and approached the local police only to discover that they still hadn't been made aware of Duncan's
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disappearance Linda expressed her belief that Duncan had likely stopped over in enbrook on the night of Tuesday August
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8th she requested that a search be done of all the hotels in the area to see if Duncan's name was any of their
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registers the police refused inbrook which had twice hosted the Winter Olympics had hundreds of
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hotels and guest lodgings making inquiries with each one would be a Monumental task when they
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didn't even have any evidence to indicate Duncan had passed through the area like the others inbrook police reassured
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the mcferson that Duncan was likely of having an adventure and would show up soon if he had come to Austria his
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parents could rest assured that it was a safe country with a very low crime rate
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and nothing bad would have happened to him the mcferson remained convinced that Duncan would have traveled to
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Windbrook they spent the next few days driving around town and the surrounding mountains putting Duncan's missing
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person posters up and making inquiries of their own upon learning of their story the
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head coach of the inbrook hockey club felt for the couple and pulled some strings to have Duncan's case broadcast
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on a local news network the segment was broadcast on Wednesday September 20 almost 50 days
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since Duncan had vanished the mcferson asked any one who might have seen Duncan or his vehicle to
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come forward finally someone [Music] did Sebastian Vagner not his real name was a contractor who had recently been
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doing some repair work to the parking lot of a popular ski resort known as the stubai glacia 40 km south of
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enbrook the stubai glacia is situated at the end of the stai valley roughly 3,000
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m above sea level it is made up of five glaciers making it the largest glacier ski area in
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Austria in the winter hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world flock to the area to make the most
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of the snowfall but it is just as popular in the summer time with tourists drawn to
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the hiking trails waterfalls and Alpine Huts that dot the surrounding Mountainside when Sebastian saw the News
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Bulletin about Duncan McPherson's disappearance he was certain he'd seen that red opal corser
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before it had been sitting in the parking lot of the shuai glacia resort near the gondola station for
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weeks Sebastian immediately notified the police who followed up on the lead that
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night the vehicle was right where Sebastian said it would be at a quick glance nothing appeared to
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be out of the ordinary the driver side window was slightly a jar allowing the officers to
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reach inside and open it up in the glove box they found a Duncan mcferson passport and uncashed traveler
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checks a plastic bag of fruit sat rotting on the back seat along with Duncan's backpack a sweater ice skates
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and a handrawn map Duncan himself was nowhere to be seen nor were there any signs that a struggle
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had taken place however an unsent letter to his girlfriend provided a potential clue in the letter Duncan mentioned that
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he'd just bought a cool new pair of mefisto brand walking shoes the shoes weren't in Duncan's car
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which raised the possibility that he might have warned them to go hiking on one of the near by
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Trails police immediately made inquiries with the accommodation providers in the
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area Duncan mcferson hadn't been registered as a guest at any of the major hotels or the small Alpine Hearts
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nor did anyone recognize him from his photograph Bob and Linda mcferson arrived at the stuar glacia the day
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after Duncan's car was found upon learning that the vehicle had been in the area for weeks they were
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stunned the stai glacia is a major tourist attraction bringing in millions of dollars in Revenue each year every
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day thousands of visitors and locals used the parking lot but the glacier shut for business in the evenings and
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the parking lot was virtually empty by 6:00 p.m. the mcferson wondered how Duncan's
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car could have sat there for weeks without it raising any alarms especially when police were aware that a tourist
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had gone missing in the area the mcferson checked into the nearby hotel to join the search for
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their son as they were registering a man approached them he introduced himself as Walter hin
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hosle a stubai glacia snowboard instructor who also worked at the hotel parttime Walter said he'd just seen the
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missing person poster taped to the window of the mcferson rental car and recognized Duncan's
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photo While most of the ski runs on the shubar glacia were closed in August due to lack of snow one small Bunny Hill
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with a rope toe left remained open known as the shaffle FNA Walter hinter hosle claimed that on
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the morning of Tuesday August 99 he had given Duncan a 2-hour snowboarding lesson on the shle
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FNA he'd been impressed by how quickly Duncan had gotten the hang of things and how well he was able to control the
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board after the lesson the two ate lunch together Duncan told Walter about his upcoming coaching job in Scotland and
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his desire to go wind surfing on Lake Garda before then Walter recommended that Duncan
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visit Austria's Lake Aran instead it was less than an hour from inbrook and would give Duncan more time
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before he had to be back in Germany for his flight Duncan seemed pleased by this he
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told Walter he was going to spend the rest of the afternoon testing out his new snowboarding skills and might then
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go for a hike on one of the surrounding Trails he arranged to meet Walter again for a follow-up lesson the next
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morning the jumper Duncan had been wearing was soaked through so he bought a new one from the gift shop and hung
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his wet one out to dry in Walter's office before hitting the slope on his own at the end of the day Walter
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returned to his office only to find that Duncan's jumper was still there he reasoned that Duncan would
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probably just pick it up after his lesson the next morning but he never showed up and the jumper remained
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unclaimed the Shelf fairness ski run was located 3,770 vertical fet above the parking lot
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the only way to reach it was to ride the gondola or hike it on foot the mcferson rode the gondol up to
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see the slope for themselves it was only a small area its entire surface visible from the
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base the ski run was clearly marked with a rope Cordon marking an outof bounds area to the east
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the mcferson knew there was no way something bad could have happened to Duncan at this
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spot Not only was the slope smoothed over at the end of each day by a snow gromer machine if Duncan had
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accidentally gone off course he would have left behind an obvious Trail he was also last seen wearing a
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bright yellow ski jacket which would have been very visible a search team combed to the
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slope but didn't find any trace of Duncan Walter hin hoel's girlfriend who was also employed by the Shai glacia
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recalled seeing Duncan on the toe lift at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday August 9 shortly after he'd finished his lunch
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with Walter this was the last confirmed sighting based on Duncan's conversation with Walter police deduced that after
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practicing snowboarding for a while Duncan likely set out on one of the hiking trails this would explain why his new
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shoes were missing Walter had advised the Duncan to avoid hiking downhill because it would
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cause stress on his knees which were weak from hockey injuries one stubai Glacier employee
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recalled seeing a tall young man standing near a waterfall below the glacia on August
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9 in the summer the melting ice created deep whp pools around the waterfall police theorized that Duncan could have
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ignored Walter's advice hiking downhill to the waterfall where he fell in and drowned they searched the Falls but
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found nothing to indicate Duncan had been there they focused their search further
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up the mountain instead where snow continued to fall there was no sign of Duncan there
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either by Monday September 25 the search for Duncan mcferson at theba glacia reached its fifth fruitless
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day with no confirmed sightings of him after August 9 the police concluded that he'd likely gotten lost or had an
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accident on the mountain and his body was concealed by snow his abandoned car hadn't raised any
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alarms because hikers often left their vehicles in the stai glacia parking lot while heading out for extended hiking
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trips during which they camped at the Alpine Huts along the way police reasoned that they hadn't
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patrolled the parking lot because it was private property they called off the search
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confident that Duncan's body would eventually be recovered by hikers or hunters in due
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course Bob and Linda mcferson were outraged by this conclusion without Duncan's body how
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could the police be sure that he was even dead let alone that he died by accident on the mountain
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somewhere as far as his parents were concerned Duncan could be anywhere he might not even be
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dead disappointed with the inbrook police investigation the mcferson were dubious about their claims that they'd
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found no record of Duncan having stayed anywhere in inbrook throughout August Bob and Linda conducted their own
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inquiries and discovered that Duncan had indeed spent the night of Tuesday August
00:32:04
8th in a youth hostel downtown before checking out the next morning while this bolstered the police
00:32:11
theory that Duncan had disappeared on the same day he was last seen the mcferson couldn't help but wonder if the
00:32:19
police had overlooked a simple detail like Duncan's hostel registration what else had they
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missed John Dixon the owner of the dunde Tigers ice hockey team was confident he'd spoken to Duncan on Thursday August
00:32:34
10 the day after he'd been snowboarding at the stai glacia a recently purchased cassette
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tape found in Duncan's car was traced to a music store in enbrook where an employee remembered serving
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Duncan she couldn't be sure exactly when but she remembered one distinct detail Duncan hadn't been Al alone but with a
00:32:59
darkhaired man while it pained Bob and Linda to imagine they considered whether Duncan
00:33:07
might have been abducted and was being held captive what if he was out there somewhere willing his parents to find
00:33:16
him as Bob later told Esquire magazine even though we knew in our hearts that he probably wasn't alive you
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always think there's some chance that's what made us want to keep it going it's amazing how much you hang on
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to that thread the tiniest bit of hope they stewed over it for days before the realization dawned on Linda Walter
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hinter hosel the snowboard instructor had told the mcferson that Duncan had rented a snowboard gloves and ski boots
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prior to their lesson together at the time there was only one ski shop on the mountain in order to rent any equipment
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customers had to put a governmen issued ID or credit card down as a deposit which would be returned to them when
00:34:13
handing over their gear at the end of the day it occurred to Linda that staff at
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the shop would be able to tell them whether or not Duncan returned his gear if he hadn't this would signify
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that he might have had an accident while he was out snowboarding instead of after Linda visited the rental shop and
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asked them to check their records the staff told her they'd recently started a new log and had
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therefore thrown the old one away while none of the employees specifically recalled Duncan returning
00:34:49
his gear no snowboards were missing from their inventory so they reasoned that he
00:34:54
must have returned it it was protocol for staff to inform guards of any rental equipment that
00:35:01
hadn't been returned so they could check the slope for any potential accidents if the police theory was
00:35:09
correct and Duncan really had perished while hiking in the shuai valley his parents couldn't bear the thought of his
00:35:16
body being left out there all alone with winter just around the corner they knew that time was of the essence
00:35:24
as any search efforts would be hindered completely once the heavy snowfall began a Canadian businessman heard about
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the situation and generously funded a Canadian search and rescue team to fly to Austria and continue the search
00:35:41
themselves they arrived on Sunday October 8th the beginning of the third month of Duncan's
00:35:48
disappearance with the help of some new computer software and a sniffer dog they
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started from the stuar glacia resort parking lot and searched outwards around the Valley from
00:36:00
there the days ticked by with no breakthroughs and by Sunday October 15 the team was forced to call off the
00:36:08
search on account of heavy snowfall defeated Bob and Del Linda mcferson felt there was nothing more
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they could do they reluctantly returned to Canada vowing to come back as soon as the snow
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melted around the same time that the mcferson left Austria the manager of one of the
00:36:33
Alpine hearts in the shuai valley came across one of Duncan's missing posters for the first
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time upon seeing Duncan's face he was reminded of a strange incident that had occurred a couple of weeks
00:36:47
earlier on Monday September 25th a disheveled looking English-speaking Foreigner had shown up at the heart in
00:36:54
the middle of the night he DET trctor there through the dark without suitable hiking gear not
00:37:01
even a flashlight he seemed a little disoriented and had taken off again after breakfast the next morning heading
00:37:09
towards the old Smugglers Trails into Italy the Hut manager thought the man bore a resemblance to Duncan
00:37:19
mcferson Bob and Linda weren't sure what to make of this the police had assured them that all the hut managers had been
00:37:28
notified of Duncan's disappearance so it seemed odd that such an encounter could
00:37:33
have occurred without it raising suspicions at the time then again it gave them hope that
00:37:40
Duncan could be experiencing Amnesia as a result of his Lyme disease or an accident and could still be alive after
00:37:48
all as the months passed by other potential sightings of Duncan continued to trickle in one Canadian tourist
00:37:57
thought she spotted him at a bar in Russia Thinking Fast she took a photo and sent it to his family but it wasn't
00:38:08
Duncan the mcferson couldn't shake the feeling that Ron Dixon the man who'd offered Duncan the coaching job knew
00:38:15
more about Duncan's disappearance than he was letting on not only did Ron claimed to be one of
00:38:22
the last people to speak with Duncan before he went missing the mcferson found it odd that he hadn't contacted
00:38:29
them to let them know Duncan never arrived in Scotland he'd never even reached out to
00:38:36
offer any support the mcferson did some digging and discovered that Ron Dixon had a
00:38:43
shady past rumors swelled about his dodgy real estate Ventures and a criminal record
00:38:50
that included a prison sentence for manslaughter the mcferson wondered if Duncan's job offer seemed too good to be
00:38:58
true because something more Sinister had been at play regardless they weren't discounting
00:39:05
the possibility that Duncan had indeed died by accident around the shuai glacia in the summer of 1990 they
00:39:15
returned to Austria bringing Duncan's beloved dog Jake with them for weeks they camped in the shuai
00:39:23
valley and hiked the surrounding Trails on the lookout for any sign of Duncan they returned every summer for
00:39:31
the next 3 years but came no closer to finding [Music] him in late 1993 a German television
00:39:43
program called B meld aired a segment about Duncan's disappearance urging anyone with information about his
00:39:50
whereabouts to come forward a woman named Lena not her real name was watching the show when
00:39:58
something occurred to her Lena lived in the Austrian city of Claren Fort roughly 320 km southeast of
00:40:06
inbrook 4 years earlier on Saturday September 9 1989 a distressed and malnourished young man had emerged from
00:40:15
the woods in a town about half an hour from Claren Fort speaking only North American
00:40:21
English he had no identification on him and claimed he couldn't remember his name where he came from from or anything
00:40:28
else about his life the only thing he could remember was that he'd once lived in New
00:40:36
York the mystery man was arrested for vagrancy before being transferred to a mental health
00:40:43
facility doctors initially thought he might be suffering from some type of neurological condition but when he
00:40:50
didn't respond to any of the treatments it was determined that he had a severe case of amnesia
00:40:57
the man was given the green light to live in Austria he settled in Claren Fort where
00:41:03
he went by the name Mark Sherman over time Lena became friends with Mark other than the fact that he
00:41:13
couldn't remember his true identity there was nothing unusual about him he was a nice guy who lived in otherwise
00:41:21
normal life but when Lena saw the bitter melder segment about Duncan McPherson's
00:41:29
disappearance it gave her pause Mark Sherman had emerged from the woods exactly 1 month after Duncan
00:41:37
mcferson was last seen at the stai glacia only a few hundred kilom away Mark had been wearing an American
00:41:46
brand of jeans just like Duncan had Duncan had had various surgeries on his knees Mark's knees also had surgical
00:41:56
scars on them Duncan's front teeth had been knocked out during a hockey match and had been
00:42:02
replaced with crowns Mark's front teeth had received similar dental work looking at Duncan's picture on the
00:42:11
television Lena saw the similarities and wondered could the two men be one and the
00:42:20
same Lena shared her suspicions with her boyfriend who managed to get a hold of the mcferson phone number
00:42:28
in early February 1994 he called them in Canada to pass on the information Bob and Linda didn't know
00:42:37
what to think given Duncan's brush with Lyme disease just before his trip to Europe
00:42:43
the possibility that he was experiencing Amnesia seemed entirely plausible and what were the chances that
00:42:51
two young North American men could go missing within such close proximity within just a few weeks of one
00:42:59
another the mcferson contacted Foreign Affairs who arranged to have someone from the Canadian embassy in Austria
00:43:06
visit Mark Sherman everything Lena said was true Mark and Duncan did share many similarities the embassy officials even
00:43:17
took Mark to an ice skating rank to put his skills to the test it turned out he was a talented
00:43:24
skater a picture of Mark was faxed to the mcferson in Canada they gathered around the fax
00:43:34
machine along with some of Duncan's friends anticipation soaring as the image emerged but Mark Sherman looked nothing
00:43:44
like Duncan his loved ones considered every conceivable possibility that Duncan's
00:43:51
appearance could have changed in the four years since his disappearance and Embassy officials ordered a comparison
00:43:57
of the two men's dental records They didn't match a former teammate of Duncan who
00:44:05
was living in Austria went to visit Mark just in case but to the crushing disappointment
00:44:12
of many he confirmed that Mark Sherman and Duncan mcferson were definitely not the same
00:44:22
person in the Summers that followed Bob and Linda spent their life saving returning to
00:44:28
Austria they refused to change their phone number or move house just in case Duncan ever tried to get in
00:44:36
touch by 2003 Duncan had been missing for 14 years Bob and Linda could no longer
00:44:44
afford the annual trips and they did their best to get on with their lives even though their son was never far from
00:44:52
their minds that summer the temperature soar to record Heights in inbrook so much of the winter snow
00:45:02
melted that even the shuffle fer ski run had to be closed down on Friday July 18 2003 a stai
00:45:12
glacier employee was walking along the empty ski run collecting rubbish when they noticed something sticking out of
00:45:19
the snow approximately 35 m east of the ski lift at the mcferson Home in South Kon
00:45:28
the phone rang the next day it was a friend of theirs from inbrook they found Duncan he
00:45:43
said it didn't take long for the inbrook police to confirm that Duncan had died by accident on the same day he was last
00:45:50
seen back on Wednesday August 9 1989 his body had been buried in a small crass and was seemingly Frozen in
00:46:00
Time dressed in the same bright yellow ski jacket and the newly purchased jumper he'd been wearing at the time of
00:46:07
his disappearance his pockets still held his wallet which contained Essentials for his European trip including his
00:46:15
international driver's license and a Canadian calling card the snowboard and ski boots he'd
00:46:23
supposedly returned to the rental shop were also still with him similar crevasses to the one
00:46:32
Duncan's body was found in crisscrossed all over the shuai glacier to make the area safe for skiers
00:46:40
piston bullies groomed the ski runs at the end of each day filling each of the crevasses in with
00:46:46
snow ungroomed areas were cordoned off to make sure skiers didn't Veer out of bounds the ski lift operator insisted
00:46:56
that the are to the left and right of the ski lift had been cordoned off at the time a Duncan went
00:47:02
missing crevasses like the one Duncan's body was found in also moved naturally over
00:47:09
time it was therefore deduced that at the time of Duncan's death the crass would have been about 40 m further
00:47:17
uphill just outside of the designated ski run authorities therefore theorized that
00:47:25
Duncan could have either ridden off hor while snowboarding or been riding the ski lift when he fell
00:47:32
off it wasn't possible to snowboard down the lift route and they assumed Duncan would have thought it was too difficult
00:47:39
to climb up instead they concluded that he likely took a shortcut on foot across an out of
00:47:47
bounds area the air was thick with fog that day and Duncan could have gotten lost before
00:47:55
falling into one of the crevasses is too far outside of the ski run for anyone else to
00:48:02
notice Duncan's Frozen remains were removed using an ice pick and transported to the coroner where a
00:48:09
pathologist was tasked with formally identifying the body in Austria autopsies aren't
00:48:16
necessary if the individual is determined to have died as the result of an accident and as such no autopsy was
00:48:25
requested based on the known facts the pathologist concluded that Duncan had likely fallen into the crass and was
00:48:32
unable to climb out he would have managed to breathe some of the air that was trapped in the
00:48:39
snow for a little while before running out of oxygen and suffocating to death Bob and Linda mcferson promptly
00:48:50
arrived in insbrook to identify Duncan's mummified body his remains were laid out
00:48:56
in the forens Institute covered in a white sheet with only his face visible despite his skin being black
00:49:04
from oxidation Linda recognized her son right away Bob and Linda each took a moment to
00:49:12
say goodbye to their son if there was any consolation to be found after 14 agonizing years it was
00:49:20
that Duncan likely hadn't suffered too badly the forensic pathologist in charge Dr Walter Robble told the mcferson that
00:49:30
survivors of similar experiences had reported feeling calm and happy in the moments before they were
00:49:37
rescued while the mcferson were relieved to discover that Duncan hadn't suffered
00:49:43
any of their worst case scenarios something didn't feel right a few days after identifying their
00:49:51
son they returned to the stai glacia and rode the gondol up the shle fa like they'd done many times
00:49:59
before two Glacier employees then drove them in a snow cat to the location where
00:50:05
Duncan's body had been found while the mcferson were anticipating the spot to be off to the
00:50:12
side in an area that was obviously out of bounds they were shocked to see that it was right in the middle of the ski
00:50:19
run in fact they'd passed by that very spot themselves several times over the years
00:50:27
Bob had even taken a photo of Linda standing nearby it struck them that for all the
00:50:34
time they'd spent worrying about their son thousands of people had been skiing practically right over
00:50:42
him as they tried to get their heads around the reality of it all Bob looked into the recently Disturbed ice and
00:50:50
noticed something black emerging from the melting snow he picked it up it was a large piece of Duncan's rented
00:50:59
snowboard clearly broken with the serial number still visible Bob poked around further and to
00:51:07
his utter dismay he found several of Duncan's bones that the recovery team had failed to
00:51:15
retrieve appalled by the careless recovery efforts the mcferson sought answers from Dr Walter rabble the
00:51:22
forensic pathologist he advised them that some of the items such as Duncan's snowboard and
00:51:29
clothing had been encased in such a way that it was impossible to remove them using an ice
00:51:35
pick instead the rescue crew had used a snow grooming machine to dig them out which had resulted in some
00:51:43
damage Bob was taken aback by this he was familiar with snow grooming machines and knew that they didn't have any
00:51:52
excavation capabilities the tiller blade on the front which consists of a rapidly
00:51:58
rotating shaft was used to push snow not dig ice suspicions raised the mcferson wanted to have their own autopsy
00:52:10
conducted but repatriating Duncan's body back to Canada was an expensive Endeavor
00:52:16
and their Relentless search for him had already set them back over 100,000 their entire retirement
00:52:24
fund they simply didn't have the money besides Dr Robble advised them that given how long Duncan's body had
00:52:33
spent in the ice an autopsy probably wouldn't reveal much anyway he offered to have a computerized
00:52:41
tomography scan done of Duncan's body instead it would produce two and threedimensional x-ray images of the
00:52:50
remains while it wouldn't reveal how Duncan had died it would show any injuries he'
00:52:58
sustained the mcferson agreed to go ahead with the scan a few days later Dr Robble told
00:53:06
them that while he hadn't yet seen the scans himself a colleague in the radiology department said Duncan hadn't
00:53:13
sustained any major injury that would account for his death bolstering the theory that he died by
00:53:20
Suffocation reluctantly his parents accepted the explanation for Duncan's accidental death death and consented to
00:53:28
have his body cremed they returned to Canada armed with nothing more than his ashes his
00:53:35
skate boots and the remnants of his broken snowboard while Duncan's case was officially closed that didn't stop his
00:53:47
parents from seeking answers it seemed unbelievable to them that Duncan could have died right at the
00:53:54
spot where he was last seen and then gone undetected for so many years the last reported sighting of
00:54:02
Duncan had occurred around 230 p.m. on Wednesday August 9 1989 the slope closed to the public at
00:54:10
400 p.m. after which the Piston bullies came out to groom the snow in preparation for the following day's
00:54:17
run what the mcferson couldn't understand was why didn't anyone go looking for Duncan despite the fact his
00:54:24
car sat in the parking lot his rental gear hadn't been returned to the ski shop and his wet clothing sat hanging in
00:54:31
Walter hin hussle's office for many years the inbrook police had told the mcferson there had never
00:54:39
been any fatal accidents on the shle fairness ski run but as the mcferson soon discovered this wasn't the
00:54:48
case in fact almost one year to the day before Duncan went missing international
00:54:54
student Chong yinchu had been skiing the shle fer when he fell from the ski lift he then took a shortcut across the
00:55:03
cordon off area and fell into a Cass unlike a Duncan Chong was visiting with France who raised the alarm when he
00:55:12
failed to surface at the end of the day rescue workers found Chong in the ice his body temperature so low that he
00:55:19
was barely clinging to life he was transported to hospital where he passed away due to complications s from
00:55:29
hypothermia during the mcferson Tyler search for Duncan the possibility that he could have fallen down a Cass had
00:55:36
never once been suggested by officials even though he was last cited in the very area where Chang yinchu had died a
00:55:44
year earlier and the same police officer had overseen both searches not only did this raise some
00:55:53
serious red flags for the mcferson they also took issue with the suggestion that
00:55:58
if Duncan had fallen off the ski lift he might have found it too difficult to climb back up the slope and that's why
00:56:04
he took the shortcut through the cordon off area Duncan was a fit strong professional athlete who was also very
00:56:13
safety conscious back in 1993 snowboarding instructor Walter hinter hosle had even
00:56:20
told the German television show B mque that Duncan had been particularly cautious around the slope
00:56:28
boundaries so if he had indeed fallen off the ski lifts the mcferson found it hard to believe that he would have taken
00:56:36
the risky shortcut instead of Simply climbing back up the mountain in September 2003 the inbrook
00:56:45
police released their final official report into Duncan McPherson's death while they acknowledged that they
00:56:52
could only speculate about the cause of the accident a statement from the police
00:56:58
Red Mountain accidents primarily falls into casses or ice breaks in Glacier areas happen
00:57:05
regularly staying on the glacier outside of the secured ski area without appropriate safety equipment carries
00:57:13
among other things a high risk of falling into a Cass such accidents are almost always
00:57:20
the result of careless behavior on the part of those involved the mcferson were eager to see the
00:57:30
results of Duncan's computerized tomography scan for themselves but it took them several months of going back
00:57:37
and forth with Dr Walter Rubble in inbrook before they finally got a hold of them the scan left Bob and Linda
00:57:46
stunned despite being told that Duncan hadn't sustained any fatal injuries it appeared on the scan that he'd been
00:57:55
decapitated both of his forearms were fractured and had been completely separated from his body his left leg
00:58:02
also appeared to have been amputated in two places and the lower part of his left leg was completely
00:58:11
shattered Dr rul explained that the injuries to Duncan's forearms likely occurred when he fell into the crass and
00:58:19
presumably tried to break his fall as for the other injuries he said these had been caused by the natural
00:58:26
movement of the ice over the years he'd examined many corpses that had been stuck in glaciers and had
00:58:34
observed similar injuries with the glacia essentially Breaking Up the Bodies over
00:58:41
time Linda and Bob weren't convinced eager to get all the information they could they successfully
00:58:49
petitioned to get a copy of the 2003 case File from Canadian Foreign Affairs reports and photos of the
00:58:57
recovery Mission revealed that Duncan's body had been retrieved by two stubai Glacier employees with their rescue
00:59:04
workers hovering in a helicopter overhead no police officers or a coroner were present not only did this seem grossly
00:59:14
inadequate the photos of Duncan's body as it lay in the ice also raised some serious
00:59:21
questions firstly Duncan's body lay horizontally on its leg left hand side not vertically like most people who die
00:59:30
from similar Falls his left leg was completely shattered while his right leg which lay
00:59:37
directly on top of the left was perfectly intact if the damage to Duncan's body was caused by the natural movement of
00:59:45
the ice over the years how could one leg be fine and the other so badly damaged the mcferson were also told that
00:59:55
damaged to Duncan's clothing and Snowboard had been done during the recovery process but it was clear from
01:00:01
the photos that this wasn't the case some of his clothing was already torn to shreds and bunched together in a
01:00:09
way that didn't look like a natural occurrence Duncan's left ski boot also Sat by his side perfectly intact and
01:00:18
filled with snow its insular lining was found elsewhere shredded and covered with
01:00:25
v-shaped Ure marks consistent with the damage to his left leg this meant that Duncan hadn't been
01:00:33
wearing the boots at the time he died which meant he'd unstrapped them from his snowboard the mcferson wondered whether
01:00:42
he could have survived the fall into the crass and had enough room to take the boots off and attempt to climb out but
01:00:50
if that had been the case the boots would have gone further down into the crass not AED right next to his
01:00:59
body but what really shocked the mcferson was the snowboard itself when they'd been given the broken
01:01:07
board red paint marks were visible in the wood which had been explained as having occurred during the recovery
01:01:15
Mission examining the photos the mcferson could see that the red paint marks were visible on the snowboard when
01:01:22
Duncan's body was initially found indicating that damage had occurred earlier on Bob retrieved the broken snowboard
01:01:32
from his basement and examined it closely he noticed that the damaged parts of the board featured the exact
01:01:40
same amount of heavy weathering and rust as the undamaged parts the only explanation Bob could
01:01:48
find for this was that the board must have been broken and exposed to the elements long before the recovery in
01:01:55
2003 and if the board had been torn up by Machinery before it was buried in the ice then what did this mean for
01:02:08
Duncan the mcferson sent the scans to a medical professional in Canada who raised the possibility that Duncan might
01:02:15
have been run over by a snow grooming machine two renowned forensic experts who had firsthand experience in
01:02:23
examining corpses that had been retre D from the ice independently agreed the damage to Duncan's body
01:02:32
wasn't caused by movements in the glacier but by contact with heavy machinery in insbrook Dr Walter Robble
01:02:42
discounted this possibility he said that such an incident wouldn't have severed Duncan's
01:02:49
limbs but caused the damage to his ribs pelvis and organs it also didn't explain how he'd
01:02:56
ended up in the crass if Duncan was run over by a snow groming machine Dr Robble said someone
01:03:05
would have had to drive back and push him into the crass after the fact Bob and Dinda had always been
01:03:13
dubious about the claim that no snowboards had been missing from the rental shop on the afternoon Duncan went
01:03:20
missing they noted that while Duncan's international driver's license and calling card had been returned to them
01:03:27
his Canadian driver's license had not they wondered whether this was because Duncan had left the license with
01:03:35
the rental shop as a deposit for his equipment along with his shoes which also hadn't been returned to his
01:03:43
family when Duncan failed to return at the end of the day someone got rid of the license his shoes and any record of
01:03:51
his hire if this was the case it meant something had to have happened to Duncan on Wednesday August 9 that stubai glacia
01:04:01
Personnel were aware of a glacier official claimed that the cordon off area had been searched during
01:04:09
the initial search in late September 1989 but it had been snowing at the time and therefore the crass Duncan was in
01:04:18
would have been covered with snow Bob and Linda had been there at the time in question
01:04:26
it hadn't been snowing nor was there any fresh snow on the ground stai glacia staff also claimed
01:04:35
that on the day Duncan went missing all known crevasses on the ski run had been filled in and those that hadn't had been
01:04:43
cordoned off the police had taken photos of the shle fairness ski run during the search
01:04:49
for Duncan in 1989 but despite numerous requests from Duncan's family they refused to hand
01:04:57
these over without the photos there was no way to know for sure if the dangerous areas
01:05:03
had indeed been cordoned off convinced that something more Sinister than a tragic accident was a
01:05:11
play the mcferson made multiple efforts to have Duncan's case reinvestigated but inbrook police
01:05:19
maintained that it was an open and shut accidental death and the case would remain closed
01:05:25
[Music] over the following years the mcferson tried everything they could think of to
01:05:31
have Duncan's case reviewed they filed numerous complaints with the Austrian authorities submitted a formal complaint
01:05:38
to the ministry of justice and even tried their luck with the European Court of Human
01:05:44
Rights all of their appeals were rejected refusing to Let It Go Bob and Linda began working with California
01:05:55
based author John leak who had taken an interest in Duncan's case John had lived in Austria while
01:06:03
investigating the crimes of serial killer Jack EGA as covered in episode 197 of case File and he had a good
01:06:11
understanding of Austrian culture JN spent several years getting to know the mcferson and the intricate
01:06:18
details of their story after reviewing all of the evidence for himself Jon consulted with
01:06:25
numerous Specialists including dick Penman an American expert in ski slope accidents dick took one look at the
01:06:33
snowboard and injuries to Duncan's leg and immediately knew that damage was caused by a snow grooming
01:06:40
tiller not only are the bones broken in pieces dick explained but the flesh around the bones has also been chopped
01:06:48
up a crass fall could break bones but it couldn't grind meat given that Duncan's boots were no longer
01:06:59
on his feet the theory was raised that he might have fallen into the crass survived the fall and then managed to
01:07:07
climb out on his own while he was hanging on the edge with one hand and leg the snow gromer
01:07:14
came along and drove over him mangling the exposed limb before burying him in the
01:07:21
ice but if Duncan's body had only been mingled and not fully run over it raised the question of how Duncan's body and
01:07:29
his snowboarding equipment ended up so deep into the crass and not just on the surface as far as dick Penman was
01:07:39
concerned not one but two separate events had resulted in Duncan's death an alternative theory was that
01:07:48
Duncan could have suffered an injury perhaps a broken leg which would explain why he unstrapped his board and took his
01:07:55
left F off perhaps he was lying in a semi fetal position as he waited for help to arrive unable to walk
01:08:04
himself unable to see him through the fog a snow gromer accidentally hit him dragging his limbs into the tiller and
01:08:12
killing him realizing what they' done and the impact this would have on tourism one or
01:08:19
more employees removed his body from the tiller they threw Duncan's body in the cat
01:08:26
which was concealed with snow the mcferson took their concerns to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
01:08:35
Who aired two episodes about Duncan's case for the long running investigative documentary program The Fifth
01:08:42
Estate speaking about the possibility of third- party involvement John Leake said how did this rack on the surface of
01:08:52
the slope wind up in a neat package in a shallow C those two actions do not go together and
01:09:00
I've talked to 20 different people who know glaciers and crevasses and physics and everything else and no one can
01:09:08
explain to me how those two things can happen without an intermediate action of someone Canadian High School teacher
01:09:18
Judy Wigmore was watching the show when it occurred to her that she'd been skiing on the stai glacia with her
01:09:24
family on the the very same day that Duncan went missing as far as Judy recalled there
01:09:30
had been no signs or barriers on the ski run to indicate any potential dangers if she'd known about the crass
01:09:38
hazards she would have never let her children go skiing there unsettled by this thought Judy
01:09:46
tracked down her old travel notes from Wednesday August 9 1989 she had recorded the conditions
01:09:53
that day as being quote pretty awful mostly wide out and slushy snow Judy wrote that it was so overcast
01:10:04
they could hardly see the mountains she also recalled that the ski shop had been very disorganized and it
01:10:11
had been a challenge to get her whole family outfitted for the day Judy reached out to Bob and Linda
01:10:19
mcferson with this information and sent them the few photos that she'd snapped on the ski run that day
01:10:26
the ski lift on the main Hill where Duncan was last seen was clearly visible in one of
01:10:32
them there was no fence or cord anded off area to be [Music] seen after researching Duncan's case for
01:10:43
several years John leak released his findings in a book titled cold a long time an Alpine
01:10:51
mystery John ultimately believed that stai GLA Personnel likely knew from the GetGo that Duncan had died in a crass on
01:11:00
Wednesday August 9 1989 but had withheld this information knowing that his parents would have demanded a widescale
01:11:08
excavation of the crevasses until their son was found not wanting to shut the glacier
01:11:14
down in the middle of peak season or suffer the bad publicity that would go with it they said Duncan had returned
01:11:21
his rental equipment to cover up the truth and redirect the investigations elsewhere while it was possible that
01:11:30
only the driver of the snow gromer and perhaps some of his co-workers knew exactly how the disaster happened John
01:11:38
wrote after systematically analyzing the facts with dick Penman we realized that
01:11:44
only one conclusion could be drawn someone had intentionally concealed Duncan's body in the
01:11:51
[Music] crass the mcferson contemplated taking legal action against the stuar glacia
01:11:59
but were dissuaded by both the inbrook pathologist and some independent lawyers because the exact cause of
01:12:07
Duncan's death remained unclear they were told there was little chance of proving any misconduct by the shuai
01:12:13
glacia staff instead they sought reimbursement from the shubba glacia founder Hinrich
01:12:21
CLE for the costs they'd incurred during their search for Duncan on the basis that his employees had given them
01:12:28
misleading information their claim was rejected by C's insurance provider who stated the
01:12:35
glacia company was not at fault for their son's death while Bob and Linda ultimately
01:12:43
accepted that whatever happened to Duncan had been an accident they believed that both the stuar glacia
01:12:49
staff and inbrook police had acted negligently not not only had this caused the mcferson 14 years of undue angst and
01:13:00
financial hardship it also put the lives of other skiers at risk Linda told a journalist for German
01:13:08
magazine daytim the only crime for us is the way in which this case was investigated when asked on The Fifth
01:13:18
Estate how she would react if someone finally came forward and took accountability Linda responded
01:13:25
I don't think I'd be able to speak I'd just be so happy that I'd cry it would restore my faith in
01:13:35
humanity August 2024 marked the 35- year anniversary of Duncan McPherson's death
01:13:43
Bob and Linda are now in their 80s and they remain convinced that Duncan's death was covered up to protect the
01:13:50
stubai Valley's valuable tourism industry while while they have come to accept that they will never get the
01:13:57
Justice they so desperately desire from officials in Austria they still refuse to stay
01:14:04
quiet in August 2024 Linda told CTV news that without anyone coming forward to take responsibility
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quote my next and only choice is to expose the corruption I won't quit there's always a way to move it
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along a British documentary about Duncan's case is supposedly in the works with the couple vowing to continue their
01:14:31
Quest For Justice until they die while it's essential for Linda that someone be held accountable for the
01:14:39
failures in her son's case she only has to think of Duncan's warm and generous nature to be reminded of the good in
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people when Linda had arrived in inbrook to identify her son's remains she asked
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for a moment alone with him looking at Duncan's face she knew straight away that something wasn't right but she
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focused on farewelling him as best she could Linda told Duncan I'm sorry you died so young but I
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know you had a good life and you died doing something you loved and that gives me some peace
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