Florida cold case victim was Manitoban

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This article was published 19/08/2023 (958 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Florida police say a man who was shot and stabbed, and whose body was found floating near a beach north of Daytona Beach in 1997, was a 58-year-old from Manitoba.

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office cold-case unit identified Robert Bruce McPhail as the victim.

He was originally from Kenora, Ont. and had moved to Winnipeg before settling in Florida in the mid-1990s, Sheriff Rick Staley told reporters Thursday.

Sheriff’s deputies found McPhail’s body floating in an intracoastal waterway at Flagler Beach, just off the Atlantic Ocean, on Sept. 10, 1997.

He was bound, shot and stabbed multiple times before he was dumped in the water, Staley said.

Sheriff and medical examiner investigators at the time estimated the victim to be between 30 to 50 years old, about five-foot-eight and 170 lbs, after a forensic anthropology exam, but weren’t able to identify him.

A clay sculpture of the victim’s head was made and its photo circulated to the public, but McPhail’s identity remained elusive.

Investigators received photos of McPhail after the Thursday press conference.

“In law enforcement, we know that if you don’t know the victim’s name, it makes it extremely difficult and hampers that investigation,” Staley said.

“We also know that since 1997, significant advances have been made in forensic science and DNA, and now using relational genealogy and DNA together.”

Cold-case detective Sarah Scalia submitted the victim’s bones to an American forensic genetic genealogy company, Ortham, in 2021, to match his genealogy to others in a law enforcement database, which helped her identify the victim as McPhail.

The sheriff said the victim had a passion for boats and went by Bruce, his middle name.

“This case required a lot of outside-the-box research and co-operation of multiple agencies to give the victim a name,” Staley said.

Stately, speaking at a press conference with the detective who cracked the case and other sheriffs, said Scalia will work to determine who killed McPhail and why.

“We won’t give up until the killer, or killers, are caught,” Staley said. “Just because it was a 26-year-old cold case, we didn’t forget about it.”

Scalia said McPhail likely moved to South Florida for pleasure, considering his love of boating, and possibly business.

She told reporters that investigators are uncertain why he was in Flagler County, which is in the northern part of the state. Staley said McPhail’s parents have since died.

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to tell them before they died what the outcome was,” Staley said.

Scalia added that investigators have contacted a distant relative of McPhail’s in Canada, who plans to bury his remains with those of his parents.

“She was surprised to say the least, but she’s happy that she has some information about her long-lost relative,” said Scalia.

» Winnipeg Free Press