Identified! Canada - Tofield, AB, 'Septic Tank Sam' Ntv/WhtMale 1046UMAB, Apr'77 - Gordon Edwin Sanderson

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Rle7

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Unidentified White Male

  • The victim was discovered on April 1977 in Tofield, Alberta, Canada
  • Estimated Date of Death: Several months

Vital Statistics

  • Estimated age: 28 years old
  • Approximate Height and Weight: 5' 6".
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: He was right-handed.
  • Clothing: Blue Levis shirt with snap buttons; white t-shirt; blue jeans; brown "Wallabee-type" shoes; grey wool socks.
  • Dentals: Available His dental records have also been sent to more than 800 dentists across Canada, to no avail.
  • DNA: Available

Case History
The victim was located in a rural 1.8-metre-deep septic tank, about 1.6 kilometres from a house, in Tofield, Alberta in April 1977. Police nicknamed him "Septic Tank Sam".
Authorities also believe he was a labourer and likely suffered an illness around the age of 5. Police suspect the victim was a "transient" and not from Alberta. The homicide probably wasn't random because of how vicious it was. They also suspect the killer might have been familiar with the area or been from a farming background, given the use of the septic tank, which was located on a rural and isolated property.
Sam's body was buried in a pauper's grave in Edmonton.

Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
RCMP - Tofield Detachment
Sergeant Jim Warren
780-662-3353

You may remain anonymous when submitting information.
NCIC Number:

Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case. Source Information:
The Globe and Mail

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1046umab.html
 
Every day, Sgt. Jim Warren walks past two cabinets containing files from one of Alberta's oldest unsolved cases - the death of an unidentified man known only as Septic Tank Sam.

"We see it and we think about it all the time," Warren, an RCMP officer, said of the case that has mystified police for 30 years.

Even now, investigators still don't know who the dead man is.

Whoever killed him left him inside a remote septic tank covered in limestone, which had already begun to decompose the remains when a couple stumbled across them while retrieving a pump near Tofield in the spring of 1977.

An investigation showed the man died after his killer shot him and tortured him with a blowtorch. The body was so badly mangled that it was a challenge just to determine whether it was a man or a woman.

Years later, despite releasing a facial reconstruction and a computer-generated picture of the victim, police have had little progress in solving the murder.

The RCMP still gets one or two inquiries a year, often from people who have heard about the case and are searching for a lost relative. It then falls to police to compare DNA they have of Sam to samples from the worried family members.

"We run down every one of those leads," said Warren, who added that identifying Sam is key to finding the killer.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/2007/09/03/4466550-sun.html
 
Rle7 said:
Years later, despite releasing a facial reconstruction and a computer-generated picture of the victim, police have had little progress in solving the murder.
Click to expand...


Anybody found this reconstruction or the picture?
 
Here is his listing on the Doe Network. I have been scouring the doe nextwork , of all the canadian males that have been reporrted missing durning this time frame. It may not lead anywhere , because he may have never been reported missing, but there is always that chance.

I am from Canada the east coast, and in that time frame and even today people have travled to the west for work. So it is a possiblity that he wasn't from alberta at all.
Here is his listing http://doenetwork.org/cases/1046umab.html

Here is one person that was reported missing that May be a possible match, highly unlikely but never hurts to try. Just wanted to get some options before I presued it.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3643dmab.html
 
birdie74 said:
It looks just like him.
Click to expand...

Thats what I was thinking plus Colem Alberta isn't far from Toilfeild Alberta.
I am from the east coast of Canada but lived in Alberta for about 5 years.
I actually lived about a 3 hour drive from toilfield , so I know most of those little rural communities.
 
When I clicked on your first link and saw the reconstruction, I thought it looked like he might be Native American. Arcand's similarities are very striking.
 
I don't know why, but the nickname they gave him bothers me. I was always told that it isn't appropriate to give nicknames to the dead.
 
anthrobones said:
I don't know why, but the nickname they gave him bothers me. I was always told that it isn't appropriate to give nicknames to the dead.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing...I know nicknames have been developed for some of the UIDs, such as Princess Doe, Mr Bones, etc, but this one seems terribly disrespectful.
 
What about his family? I just think Septic Tank Sam sounds like a mascot for the local septic tank cleaning company.

Transient or not - he deserves more respect from the investigators. This upsets me.
 
77NancyDrew said:
Here is one person that was reported missing that May be a possible match, highly unlikely but never hurts to try. Just wanted to get some options before I presued it.
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/3643dmab.html
Click to expand...


I think you're onto something there! They look very much alike and the descriptions match as well! I would not hesitate to report it. (and, BTW, the nickname is highly disrespectful IMO, though perhaps they didn't mean it that way)
 
carrie said:
I think you're onto something there! They look very much alike and the descriptions match as well! I would not hesitate to report it. (and, BTW, the nickname is highly disrespectful IMO, though perhaps they didn't mean it that way)
Click to expand...

Thanks , I am going to give them a call today, was crazy busy most of the day yesterday.
I will let you all know how it goes.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I just called and they are gonna let me know either way, they were so nice and grateful for the call. It is the only unsolved case in thier area(toilfield).
I am hoping for the best, but I will be on pins and needles untill they call with an update.
 
77NancyDrew said:
I just called and they are gonna let me know either way, they were so nice and grateful for the call. It is the only unsolved case in thier area(toilfield).
I am hoping for the best, but I will be on pins and needles untill they call with an update.
Click to expand...


Be sure to let us know as soon as you hear from them. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed.
 
77NancyDrew, it's so great that you found this and reported it. It would be wonderful to restore the proper name to this man's remains.
 
Edward Joseph Arcand is not our "Sam" :(
I was so sure that Edward was Sam, wishful thinking.
I actually teared up on the phone when Sergeant Warren's told me is wasn't him.
He said that is was an amazing find and that he thought at a first glance it might have been him, but it wasn't a match.
He said to keep trying and not to hestiat to call again.

He did ask me why it made me so sad when he told me they weren't a match,
I said well, I seen "Sam's" picture and case file scanning the doe network and he just kinda jumped out at me.

I tried to pick his brain a bit but he was pretty tight lipped, the only question that he would answer for sure was that he had no noticalbe tatoo's,weird question I know but some of the missing people in Canada or UID remains have very little info.

So there is an update, I am not giving up, Sergeant Warren's does feel very storngly that "Sam" wasn't from Alberta , but just Like "Sam's' real name that remains a mystery.

So back to the drawing board. I do have a few other possible matches but I am not to sure just yet , how close they are to "Sam"

But i will be sure to share anything that I have if anyone is intrested.:)
 
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