Mystery deepens for family after car, bones discovered

Nancy Willis, The Guardian
June 1, 2006

SOURIS – The waiting continues for Jim and Helen MacDonald. Only now, the odds seem slimmer that their son who disappeared last December may still be alive.   Earlier this week, human bones were found in the woods in Bayfield near where the car that 39-year-old Reggie MacDonald had driven when he slipped out of his bedroom window and left on Dec. 4, 2005, was abandoned.

Forensic work is underway to determine if the remains are that of MacDonald. Cpl. Bruce Reid, head of the Souris RCMP detachment, said at this point it could take three to six months before they are able to know for sure who it is. “All we can say now is that the case is still under investigation, and that at this time there doesn’t appear to be any foul play involved,” said the RCMP corporal.

Reggie’s father, Jim MacDonald, confirmed that three pieces of human bone were found and that the search for further evidence will continue this weekend. “The police believe they have enough material for DNA analysis, but they would like to have more for quicker identification,” he explained.

But no matter how compelling the discovery of human bone so close to the area the car was abandoned may be, Jim MacDonald says he is not 100 per cent convinced it is that of his son. “Reggie was a very, very smart person,” he said. “His was not the sort of personality that would take his own life. And I have talked to his friends and they all say ‘that’s not Reggie’.” Other things also puzzle Jim MacDonald. The car was found with the driver’s window down, which was very unlike his son. “He was always freezing and never drove around with the window open and it was very cold that day he disappeared, so I can’t understand that.”

As well, he said the police found pieces of denim jeans at the scene which they believe may have been Reggie’s. “But I don’t know when he would have changed, because he left here in sweat pants,” said his father.  In addition, he said the car wasn’t stuck. It was just sitting there where it was left with gas in it.

For the whole MacDonald family the mystery deepens. But Jim is remaining open to any possibility. “Now, somehow, we feel he is at peace, even though we are still not sure if he is dead or alive,” said Jim.

Something We Didn’t Understand at the Time

When this article was written, my father was particularly puzzled by two things. Reggie had left his car with the driver’s window down, even though it had been very cold, and some of his clothing was found outside the car. His jacket was also found nearby.

At the time, these details didn’t make sense to us. My father knew how much Reggie disliked the cold, which made the open window seem especially strange.

We later learned about a phenomenon associated with severe hypothermia known as paradoxical undressing. As hypothermia progresses, a person can become confused and, in some cases, experience a sensation of warmth that causes them to remove clothing even though their body temperature is dangerously low. The phenomenon has been documented in forensic studies of fatal hypothermia.

Looking back, hypothermia provides a possible explanation for some of the things that had puzzled us—the open window and Reggie’s clothing and jacket being found outside the car. We cannot know exactly what Reggie was experiencing during those final hours, but details that had seemed inexplicable to our family at the time began to make more sense.