While making a pit stop on a rural road near Markham, Ontario, in 1980, a motorist stumbled across the skeletal remains of a young man.
Along with the body, police found a pair of ladies’ red high-heeled shoes, white socks, jeans and a powder compact with mirror. All items are believed to have belonged to the victim. He – she – was a cross-dresser.
The victim was white and between 25 and 40 years old when he was killed. He was approximately 5’6’’ with a slim build, weighing between 100 and 120 pounds and had dark brown hair. He was quietly buried in a pauper’s grave, and to this day his identity remains a mystery.
On Dec 1 York Regional Police unveiled a sculpture of what his face may have looked like in life along with a sketch of how he may have been dressed before he was murdered.
This is just one of at least three cold cases involving victims with ties to Toronto’s gay communities who were murdered under similar circumstances.
Forensic sculptures, like the one of the Markham man, led police to identify Richard Hovey and Eric Jones who disappeared from Toronto in 1967 and 1968 and whose remains sat unidentified until recently.
James Henry Greenidge, who is in prison in BC for a 1981 murder, may be connected to all of the killings. Now in his 70s, he is up for parole in 2010.
It was so long ago, but let’s give the Markham man his name back. Do you recognize him? Do you remember anything about Greenidge?
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