Man's dead body found in river near Verdun
Second body found in as many days
This time the body was found offshore from LaSalle Blvd. and de l’Eglise St. near the Verdun Auditorium about 8:30 a.m., Montreal police Constable Anie Lemieux said.
The death was most likely from natural or accidental causes, she said.
There were no apparent signs of violence on the body, she added. The man, estimated to be in his 40s, had identity papers on him but police were still trying to formally identify the body Wednesday. There were no missing persons reports for the man identified in the documents, Lemieux said. An autopsy was expected to reveal the cause of death.
On Tuesday, the body of Matthew Besner, 27, was recovered neaer the shore of the Lachine Canal next to the Bonaventure Expressway. He had been missing since Sunday. His death was also considered by police to be accidental. Quebec Coroner Paul Dionne was conducting an autopsy on Besner's body
4 comments:
Is the river even frozen yet ? Because that was always dangerous,to walk on the ice.......of course we did it all the time. Yikes ! We were just lucky I guess. HF&RV
Verdun? Accidental drowning? HA!!!!! Maybe in the old days. And two in two days???? Maybe they tried to walk on the is like we use to do......
Well here is what happened to the first body found,...what a sad deal just vefore Christmas for this guy's family & friends......
MONTREAL - Matthew Besner's final moments were a desperate struggle to survive as he crossed the frozen Lachine Canal and fell through the ice at least twice before collapsing on the shore on the other side, police say.
Why he was crossing an isolated stretch of the canal next to the Bonaventure Expressway remained a mystery yesterday.
The 27-year-old's body was discovered about 8:15 a.m. yesterday by workers installing a billboard near the iconic Five Roses flour building on Mill St. The insurance company employee, who friends said was dependable and not a big partier, had been missing since shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday. He had stepped out for a breath of fresh air during a gathering with friends at an Old Montreal restaurant that is about 15 blocks east of the spot along the canal where his body was found.
Police said footprints in the snow on the north side of the canal near de la Commune St. indicate that he walked toward the canal, and the broken ice showed he fell through two or three times before making it to the shore.
"Once he got to the shore he wasn't able to get up" the slope, Montreal police Constable Daniel Lacoursiere said. "Nothing indicates there was a crime. He was wet; he froze."
The body bore no signs of violence and nothing was missing from his wallet, police said. Besner was dressed in the same clothes he wore when he disappeared -a Canada goose jacket, black shirt and jeans.
Lacoursiere would not speculate about whether Besner was alone before crossing the canal or what his state of mind might have been. He said police yesterday were not looking into the possibility Besner might have been pushed into the canal. An autopsy should determine the exact cause of death, he added.
Many of Besner's friends and family members declined to comment, except to say they were in shock. In front of an apartment in Old Montreal that had been the gathering point for a search by Besner's friends, a man who would not give his name was pacing and appeared deep in thought yesterday when approached by a reporter. He kept repeating that no one wanted to comment.
Family friend Ziggy Zalezniak said he was with Besner's father when police called with the news Tuesday morning.
"It is not good," Zalezniak said of the father's reaction.
On a Facebook page created to help find Besner when he was missing, people expressed their sorrow. Samantha Singer Guindi offered her "deepest condolences to the Besner family. I have very fond memories of Matthew from Herzliah and CEGEP. such a nice guy, taken too early." Melissa Benamou-Rudner added: "I remember Matthew from my high school days as a funny and quiet boy that always had a smile on his face."
Besner's smile, along with his friends' devotion to him, were evident yesterday on the handmade missing person posters, bearing his photo, that were still taped up on nearly every block in Old Montreal. There was one de la Commune St., close to where he was found.
Well the story getes a little stranger for victim # 1 , it seems he was asking directions on how to get to Verdun ? Now that is a weird coincidence,seeing a day later another person drowns in Verdun:
here's the Gazette updated story:
MONTREAL - The family of Matthew Besner has viewed security camera video footage showing him in the hours after his friends last saw him early Sunday.
Besner, 27, was found dead Tuesday morning on the shore of the Lachine Canal near the Bonaventure Expressway. He had been missing since just before 3 a.m. Sunday, when he stepped out for a few moments from a gathering with friends in a restaurant in Old Montreal.
Montreal police Constable Anie Lemieux would not confirm or deny that police have been viewing videos showing Besner. She said Besner’s death was accidental and the police were working with the coroner’s office on the coroner’s investigation into Besner’s death.
In a TV interview with TVA commentator Claude Poirier Thursday morning, a store employee who did not give his name on air said he saw Besner enter his store in the vicinity of Brennan St. not far from Wellington St. between 4:45 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday. "He was very confused and asking for directions to get to Verdun," the man told Poirier. There is apparently video of the encounter.
The man said he saw Besner, who lived in an apartment on Pine Ave., fall down at least twice and his pants were snow-covered. "It was strange to see," he told Poirier.
The store employee later realized Besner was on foot, and not in a car. As the man left his place of work after his shift ended at 5 a.m., he saw Besner walking. "I wish I had picked him up."
In an interview with The Gazette Thursday, Joshua Chinks, the brother of Besner's girlfriend - and who was with Besner the night he disappeared - strongly disagreed with the description of Besner as so intoxicated he could not walk straight. He said the family has been working with private investigators and has viewed some of the security video but the footage is not very clear.
"Something suspicious happened," Chinks said. "It's not in (Besner's) character to wander off, even if he had been drinking. That doesn't explain why he was walking around Old Montreal for two hours."
Besner had nearly $200 in cash on him when he was found, Chinks added. "He could have taken a taxi if he wanted to get somewhere. Why would he go over a six-foot concrete ledge to cross the canal?"
Besner's cousin told The Gazette that someone in the group of friends sent Besner a text message moments after he stepped out of the restaurant Sunday, informing him that their ride had arrived.
Besner sent the friend a reply, indicating he was still outside the restaurant. But when the group exited the restaurant, Besner was gone.
Chinks urged people who have store security video of Besner to come forward and call Montreal police on the Info-Crime line at 514-393-1133.
mharrold@montrealgazette.com
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