Human remains from 2008 case in Toronto identified as man from Portugal

Toronto police say they have identified human remains from a 2008 case belonging to a man from Portugal using investigative genetic genealogy.

Police said on March 29, 2008, officers were called to Bloor and Parliament streets, where they found a deceased man.

His death was not suspicious, police said. However, attempts to identify him through regular investigative techniques were unsuccessful.

The case was selected for IGG in 2023, where initial findings determined he was “a man from Europe.” A bulletin was circulated among online groups from “a specific region in Europe,” police said.

Global News confirmed with police that the man was from Portugal and in his 50s at the time of his death.

“Shortly thereafter two tips were provided, one from Ontario and one from overseas, that the unknown man could be a man named Alcides,” police said.

Investigators were able to find a relative living overseas and collected a DNA sample that was sent in for comparison.

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On Nov. 7, police said that DNA testing confirmed that the unknown deceased man is Alcides.

Alcides was never reported missing but police said “those who loved him always wondered what happened to him as they had not heard from him in years.”

Toronto police said this is the ninth person identified through the service’s humanitarian initiative called Project 31, which began in 2022 involving 31 long-term unidentified deceased people where DNA is available. It uses DNA-based techniques such as investigative genetic genealogy.

Alcides’s family was notified of the positive identification and provided with the details of his burial location, police said