CANADA Canada - James Walton, a.k.a. Michael De Bourcier, 27, Caledonia, ON, 2 Aug 1992
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meanmaryjean
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So many things about this don't add up.........
Zuri
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Morbidly obese used to mean if you were 100lbs overweight. Now they use BMI and >40 is considered MO.
ArianeEmory
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That photo...I have a very hard time believing in it. I've worked at/been around "start up ISPs" in the mid and late 90s. The cardboard box desk sounds way more likely than anything going on in that photo (which I agree looks like stock/ad art). Things you don't see at a small tech startup: ties, *old-fashioned paper Rolodexes* (!?), a blindingly bright desk lamp right next to someone's monitor, things neat and tidy with just a touch of "realistic" mess, etc. Not only do I not believe that's a picture of the missing guy, I don't believe it's a "real" picture of anyone. It looks like an ad.
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dylanreibling
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Hey everyone.
Dylan Reibling here - I'm glad to hear that there is some interest in my story. I'm hoping that if I can spread the word and get some attention, it might result in some new leads for the case. And yes, it is a real case. The CBC shortened the story quite a bit to fit within the half-hour, so there are many details that were left out. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.
I guess the first thing I should say is that the picture is real and the office is real. Here are some more photos from that space. I haven't published them because they feature people other than Mike.
Dylan Reibling here - I'm glad to hear that there is some interest in my story. I'm hoping that if I can spread the word and get some attention, it might result in some new leads for the case. And yes, it is a real case. The CBC shortened the story quite a bit to fit within the half-hour, so there are many details that were left out. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have.
I guess the first thing I should say is that the picture is real and the office is real. Here are some more photos from that space. I haven't published them because they feature people other than Mike.
dylanreibling
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Some other info:
1) I wouldn't have called Mike morbidly obese. He was overweight, but i wouldn't have ever called him obese. It is hard to tell from that one photograph, because it makes him look less heavy than he was. But I don't think morbidly obese is the right descriptor for him.
2) They didn't cover this in the CBC story, but the ISP that Mike and I worked for (Velocet Communications) got bought out in early 2002. Mike and I both got laid off shortly thereafter (I think it was March or April 2002). So most of our correspondence over the passport happened on the phone or over email.
3) Due to privacy laws here in Canada, the funeral company can't release burial arrangements with anyone other than next of kin. I'm currently working on obtaining that information, but it isn't as easy as you'd think.
1) I wouldn't have called Mike morbidly obese. He was overweight, but i wouldn't have ever called him obese. It is hard to tell from that one photograph, because it makes him look less heavy than he was. But I don't think morbidly obese is the right descriptor for him.
2) They didn't cover this in the CBC story, but the ISP that Mike and I worked for (Velocet Communications) got bought out in early 2002. Mike and I both got laid off shortly thereafter (I think it was March or April 2002). So most of our correspondence over the passport happened on the phone or over email.
3) Due to privacy laws here in Canada, the funeral company can't release burial arrangements with anyone other than next of kin. I'm currently working on obtaining that information, but it isn't as easy as you'd think.
Hi there, Dylan. Welcome to WS. I hope you won't mind a pile of questions -- it's kind of what we do. 
What I'm wondering is -
* Have the police not run his prints? Dental records?
* How'd they figure out he was not who he said he was, exactly?
* How did you obtain his death certificate?
* Where was 'Mike' planning on going?
I'm wondering if he was possibly in witness protection. Fake identity, an apparent 'premonition' of his own death (had someone tracked him down?), and his wanting to leave the country just before he died.
Did he have a history of heart disease? If he was told he was sick enough to need an imminent funeral plan, I'm really surprised he'd be also be planning to travel. Perhaps his intended destination might be a clue.
* I'm assuming there was an autopsy. If you can get a death cert, you could probably get hold of that report also?
What I'm wondering is -
* Have the police not run his prints? Dental records?
* How'd they figure out he was not who he said he was, exactly?
* How did you obtain his death certificate?
* Where was 'Mike' planning on going?
I'm wondering if he was possibly in witness protection. Fake identity, an apparent 'premonition' of his own death (had someone tracked him down?), and his wanting to leave the country just before he died.
Did he have a history of heart disease? If he was told he was sick enough to need an imminent funeral plan, I'm really surprised he'd be also be planning to travel. Perhaps his intended destination might be a clue.
* I'm assuming there was an autopsy. If you can get a death cert, you could probably get hold of that report also?
dylanreibling
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I appreciate the questions! This is the first time I've had to look into something like this, so I'm still figuring things out as I go along.
The original police detective on the case has retired, so it has made things a bit more muddled. At first, I assumed that the police had run his fingerprints and come up with nothing. However, I recently spoke to a police detective that looked at the file and his opinion is that it wasn't determined to be a false identity until the file moved on to the coroner's office and they tried to find a next-of-kin. By that point, it may have been too late to fingerprint the body. I'm working on getting details from the coroner's report, but I have to cut through a lot of red tape. I'll keep you posted, as that info might be coming shortly.
I obtained a "short form" death certificate. Those are easily attainable in Ontario. But it contains no information on cause of death.
I remember distinctly that Mike was planning on teaching English overseas. Specifically, he wanted to teach Business English in Germany. I think the money was better than teaching English in Korea or something like that, but that's just something I speculated on at the time.
I've wondered if he was in witness protection, as well. But I don't know if that would come out in the case of his death?
I don't think he had a history of heart disease. He was overweight, sure. But I never worried about his health or heard him complain of any ailments.
I recently made a trip to his alleged high school - where he told me he went to school, and where the police said his high school diploma was from. The principal confirmed that no one with his name ever attended a school in that district. I also did a 10-year visual search of all of the high school graduates around the time he should have graduated and didn't find anyone that matched his description. I did a 10-year search of the local newspaper birth announcements and also found no one with his last name.
The original police detective on the case has retired, so it has made things a bit more muddled. At first, I assumed that the police had run his fingerprints and come up with nothing. However, I recently spoke to a police detective that looked at the file and his opinion is that it wasn't determined to be a false identity until the file moved on to the coroner's office and they tried to find a next-of-kin. By that point, it may have been too late to fingerprint the body. I'm working on getting details from the coroner's report, but I have to cut through a lot of red tape. I'll keep you posted, as that info might be coming shortly.
I obtained a "short form" death certificate. Those are easily attainable in Ontario. But it contains no information on cause of death.
I remember distinctly that Mike was planning on teaching English overseas. Specifically, he wanted to teach Business English in Germany. I think the money was better than teaching English in Korea or something like that, but that's just something I speculated on at the time.
I've wondered if he was in witness protection, as well. But I don't know if that would come out in the case of his death?
I don't think he had a history of heart disease. He was overweight, sure. But I never worried about his health or heard him complain of any ailments.
I recently made a trip to his alleged high school - where he told me he went to school, and where the police said his high school diploma was from. The principal confirmed that no one with his name ever attended a school in that district. I also did a 10-year visual search of all of the high school graduates around the time he should have graduated and didn't find anyone that matched his description. I did a 10-year search of the local newspaper birth announcements and also found no one with his last name.
txsvicki
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Wow. Was there a funeral and did anyone who knew Mike attend to be be able to identify his body? One thing popped out at me. Mike looks older in the pic than Dylan would have been. Possibly, he was listening to Dylan then coming up with the same life experiences. An experienced con artist. I'd be more worried that the body was really the guy who was claiming to be Mike.
^ See, I was figuring he'd have to faked a LOT of documents to get a passport, work, etc under his fake name. But what average person has the resources and wherewithal to obtain/produce that level of fraudulent documentation? That the fake ID was *so* thorough, and also used in the long-term, strongly suggests to me WPP, or an experienced criminal of some sort (with access to the means of forging official documents) hiding out in plain sight.
If he was a computer whiz, he may have also faked his own documents using a printer.. But in any case, to go so far as he did to hide his identity implies to me Mike very well could have been on the run from *some* massive threat or other. Death threats? A hefty prison term? A million bucks in overdue child support?
His fingerprints and dental records may yet be what 'finds' him. It'd be very worth finding out if those were ever obtained, or possibly (via exhumation) could be now (in the case of dental records, at least).
The real puzzler here for me is - why would a young and not-deathly-ill man planning a soon-to-be trip to Germany pre-plan his funeral in the country he was about to leave? It makes zero sense to me.
Just riffing out loud here, wild hairy thoughts, no hard theory involved:
That 'Mike' sought out a friendship at all could imply that he was feeling very lonely and isolated. Anyone who has hidden himself that thoroughly would have to have some pretty powerful mind-ninja skills/heavy motivation toward complete immersion in his 'cover', to want to completely fake a friendship as part of his cover. If he was not a hardened serial killer/international top secret agent/whatever, he might have been lonely enough to seek some real human contact. In which case, it would pay to recall as much detail as possible, regarding the lies he told. They *may* contain some truth.
Small towns are pretty much all alike - even the ones way over here in Aus are not terribly different to those in the US and Canada, in their social structures and so on. He may well have grown up in a small town *somewhere*. If he's accurately described land marks of the small town/s he said he grew up in, this may point to time actually spent there (though likely not in childhood).. It might be worthwhile checking out those towns for those details, and passing his picture around.
That 'Mike' sought out a friendship at all could imply that he was feeling very lonely and isolated. Anyone who has hidden himself that thoroughly would have to have some pretty powerful mind-ninja skills/heavy motivation toward complete immersion in his 'cover', to want to completely fake a friendship as part of his cover. If he was not a hardened serial killer/international top secret agent/whatever, he might have been lonely enough to seek some real human contact. In which case, it would pay to recall as much detail as possible, regarding the lies he told. They *may* contain some truth.
Small towns are pretty much all alike - even the ones way over here in Aus are not terribly different to those in the US and Canada, in their social structures and so on. He may well have grown up in a small town *somewhere*. If he's accurately described land marks of the small town/s he said he grew up in, this may point to time actually spent there (though likely not in childhood).. It might be worthwhile checking out those towns for those details, and passing his picture around.
That's an interesting thought! It gets me thinking of spy thrillers... I mean, if he was an International Man of Intrigue who faked the death of his fake identity, it'd sure explain why he faked everything, how he faked everything, why he both provided a cover story for his leaving, and also pre-planned his funeral. If we're going there -- a faked heart attack on some unwitting look-alike patsy and a hasty burial/cremation (I'd bet on cremation...) is not *entirely* impossible.
Either this guy is James Bond and/or a complete sociopath, or he was hiding out of fear and *possibly* suspected someone was going to find and kill him before he could get out of the country.
Or maybe his doctor warned him of a couple blocked arteries. :waitasec:
dylanreibling
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If there was a funeral, no one was told about it.
I actually knew the town he was from, as my grandmother grew up there and I visited it a number of times when I was a kid. So I remembered it, but very vaguely. We actually bonded because we were from the same area. I didn't think about it until after he died and his fraudulent identity was revealed how perfect it was that I had such vague memories about it, enough to make his stories seem legitimate to me.
I've often wondered about the Witness Protection angle. But I guess I always thought that if he died, all of the facts would come out. Whoever had him under a WPP (police? RCMP?) would be able to reveal his true identity. It wouldn't need to be a secret anymore. That having been said: I don't actually know anything about how WPP work.
I actually knew the town he was from, as my grandmother grew up there and I visited it a number of times when I was a kid. So I remembered it, but very vaguely. We actually bonded because we were from the same area. I didn't think about it until after he died and his fraudulent identity was revealed how perfect it was that I had such vague memories about it, enough to make his stories seem legitimate to me.
I've often wondered about the Witness Protection angle. But I guess I always thought that if he died, all of the facts would come out. Whoever had him under a WPP (police? RCMP?) would be able to reveal his true identity. It wouldn't need to be a secret anymore. That having been said: I don't actually know anything about how WPP work.
If you have a PI working on this case, I'd ask him to find out for you.. perhaps, if indeed there's a means to find out, he can. I think the WPP angle is very worth investigating, as it's kind of the Occam's Razor theory here IMO.
Also, maybe check out the Canadian laws for release of medical files after death... if you cannot get them at all, it'd surely be in the interest of police to have a look at those, and see whether he had any existing heart issues.
Waitasec -- "if" there was a funeral? Now, I am sure the police would have the authority to inquire on whether there was or was not an actual funeral. In any case, if 'Mike' did indeed die, his body would have to go *somewhere*.
If he was in WPP and his cover was suspected of being blown, the police *might* be complicit in faking his death? But what kind of full-on case would he be involved with, for the local PD to aid in a such a complex cover-up? Why not just ship him off to Germany?
Also, maybe check out the Canadian laws for release of medical files after death... if you cannot get them at all, it'd surely be in the interest of police to have a look at those, and see whether he had any existing heart issues.
Waitasec -- "if" there was a funeral? Now, I am sure the police would have the authority to inquire on whether there was or was not an actual funeral. In any case, if 'Mike' did indeed die, his body would have to go *somewhere*.
If he was in WPP and his cover was suspected of being blown, the police *might* be complicit in faking his death? But what kind of full-on case would he be involved with, for the local PD to aid in a such a complex cover-up? Why not just ship him off to Germany?
dylanreibling
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I've been told that Mike filed a "pre-need" contract with a funeral company - whether that included a funeral, a burial, or a cremation is private information. And the funeral company is taking it very seriously. But you're right - there is a possibility to obtain that through the police. The police detective I've been dealing with thinks they might be able to exercise some discretion with finding out and relaying the information. I'm hoping that they are able to deliver.
Good point on the WPP. I'll talk to my private investigator about it. He will definitely know what is likely.
And for what it's worth, I recognize how foolish this all seems in retrospect. Surely there must have been some clues at the time that indicated Mike wasn't who he said he was, right? I ask myself that all the time. I was a 21 year old kid from a small town. So maybe it was youth or just plain naïveté. Whatever it was, I was duped 100%. All that having been said - he really was a nice guy to hang around.
Good point on the WPP. I'll talk to my private investigator about it. He will definitely know what is likely.
And for what it's worth, I recognize how foolish this all seems in retrospect. Surely there must have been some clues at the time that indicated Mike wasn't who he said he was, right? I ask myself that all the time. I was a 21 year old kid from a small town. So maybe it was youth or just plain naïveté. Whatever it was, I was duped 100%. All that having been said - he really was a nice guy to hang around.
If he took the name of a little boy from a small town who died in 1973, I'd say he probably lived in that town in 1973, and was somewhere near the boy's age--or near enough for the story to make an impression on him. Maybe he even went to school with him. So probably someone born around 1968, who lived near Port Hardy, in North Island / Vancouver Island, B.C. http://www.porthardy.com/
Dylan - thing is, people of ALL ages and IQ's and backgrounds get fooled *all* the time, because it's in our nature as human beings to accept that if someone appears to be genuine (and sometimes even if they do not, so much), then they must be.
Either your friend was a pathological liar who used you as a part of his cover story, or he was in some deep-cover situation out of need and got lonely - and had to embellish details, to keep his story straight (and in line with the 'stolen' ID? where did the original Mike come from, again?)
In any case, this really is pretty interesting. I hope you'll do us the favour of keeping us informed of what your PI turns up, if anything..
Either your friend was a pathological liar who used you as a part of his cover story, or he was in some deep-cover situation out of need and got lonely - and had to embellish details, to keep his story straight (and in line with the 'stolen' ID? where did the original Mike come from, again?)
In any case, this really is pretty interesting. I hope you'll do us the favour of keeping us informed of what your PI turns up, if anything..