CBC News: the fifth estate

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Aired November 8,
2006 at 9pm
on CBC-TV
& November 10, 2006
at 10pm ET
on CBC Newsworld

WATCH the fifth estate ONLINE:

Watch this story online.

Runs 41:53
REPORTER: Hana Gartner
PRODUCER: Marie Caloz
SENIOR ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Howard Goldenthal
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Christina Heidorn

WEB EXCLUSIVE:

Canadian forensic expert Myriam Nafte gives the fifth estate her analysis of the circumstances of Duncan MacPherson's death.
Watch her interview online.

Runs 14:35
Video available in Windows Media Player.

ICEMAN

Duncan MacPherson was a first round NHL draft pick in 1984.

When someone goes missing or a body turns up, we count on police to spring into action. But when a 23-year-old Saskatoon native and professional hockey player named Duncan MacPherson disappeared in the Austrian Alps in 1989, his parents soon discovered that the local police weren't very interested at all in helping them. For 14 years, Duncan's disappearance remained a mystery.

The fifth estate investigates Duncan's disappearance and the story of his parents, Bob and Lynda MacPherson, who were determined to uncover the truth about their missing son in the face of bureaucratic bungling and police intransigence. Their search for answers would take them to Austria nine times. It came to define their lives and cost them their life savings.

A promising life

Duncan MacPherson was living the Canadian hockey dream in 1989. He was headed to Europe for a coaching job in a new country, but first he would take a vacation in the Austrian Alps. And that is where he vanished – for 14 years.

Duncan MacPherson's body emerged from the ice 14 years after he disappeared.

Then, in July 2003, under a hot summer sun, his body emerged out of a melting alpine glacier, right in the middle of a popular ski run. Just hours after the body's discovery, without an autopsy or a proper investigation, Austrian authorities announced it was an accident that had killed Duncan, an accident that was his own fault. But, his parents suspected something sinister had happened to their son on that ski slope, something authorities don't want tourists to know.

The fifth estate traveled to Austria with Bob and Lynda to retrace their frustrating 14 year struggle to find their son – and to find out how he died. What soon emerged was a picture of missed leads, a botched investigation and indifferent authorities that seem more interested in protecting the tourist industry than finding out how Duncan MacPherson died.

The fifth estate talked to officials from the Austrian police, forensics and the justice system to confront them about the lies of witnesses, conflicting statements and a shocking lack of investigation on the part of Austrian authorities.

A different conclusion

Using evidence from the scene, Canadian forensic anthropologist Myriam Nafte comes to very different conclusions about the probable cause of Duncan's death.

^TOP