James Scott Walton was a man who died in Toronto, Ontario in 2002. Prior to his death, he had been living under an assumed identity.
He was identified in May 2015.
Background[]
Walton was last seen by his family after he left Ontario to visit friends in Syracuse, New York. Shortly after he left, Walton's father died of a massive heart attack in England; however, Walton never arrived in Syracuse and was unable to be contacted so he could be notified of his father's death. Police located Walton's vehicle abandoned under a bridge near Buffalo Niagara International Airport, but could not find any trace of Walton. Walton's family later received pension checks in the mail, which suggested that Walton may have been involved in illegal activity.
Case[]
On April 3, 2002, Walton was found deceased in his apartment at 545 Sherbourne Street in Toronto. He had died of a heart attack and was severely decomposed. Walton was using the identity of "Michael John DeBourcier", had recently lost his job, and was reportedly planning to travel overseas to teach English. One week before his death, Walton had prepaid his own funeral. Identification documents found in Walton's possession were deemed as fraudulent and investigators learned that the name he was using belonged to a 4-year-old who died in 1973.
A friend of Walton, Dylan Reibling, spent years trying to find his true identity. During his search, Reibling found a missing person's profile for Walton which he instantly suspected to resemble his friend. DNA comparison with Walton's family confirmed the identification.
Gallery[]
Media[]
- The story of Walton's identification was told in the documentary Looking for Mike, which was created by former coworker Dylan Reibling.