How DNA and IGG solved a Canadian cold case and what Ghana can learn

Now, a lot of Ghanaians are getting awakened with the increasing number of unresolved crimes such as missing persons, kidnapping, murder and dumping unidentified bodies.

Most families of these victims have given up on finding the whereabouts of their missing loved ones as their case files continue to gather dust on the shelves of police investigators, prosecutors and laboratory technicians due to a lack of forensic equipment and systems to resolve such cases.

It is an undisputed fact that Ghana is struggling with unresolved cases of noteworthy individuals who received significant public interest, including the murder of George Awoonor-Williams [2014], Fennec Okyere's murder [2014], Nana Kwadwo Ajei Boateng's murder [2025], the murder of Joseph Boakye Dankwa Adu [2016] and the murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale [2019], still fresh in our minds.

But when the eight government officials and public servants of the government of Ghana passed away during the infamous helicopter crash on August 8, 2025, we flew their charred body remains to South Africa, where a special DNA test resulted in identifying their true bodies, which made it possible for their successful internment according to their muslin or Christian faith.

What about those who might have perished through fatal lorry accidents, whose true bodies could not be identified, what about those who might have vanished during the infamous coup-d’états which hit the country some decades ago or what about those who suffered gruesome murder or went missing some years ago?

We should give up the search for their whereabouts and close the chapter or the file on them? Thanks to a new DNA system called Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) system, which various institutions such as the police, lab technicians, the Ministry of Natural Resources and individuals are using to solve decades-old mysteries of missing persons in Canada.

In the quiet of Algonquin Park, a secret lay beneath the forest floor for more than four decades. A young man, lost to time, forgotten by the world but never by the heart. This is the story of Eric ‘Ricky’ Singer, and how science, perseverance, and family finally brought him home.

On a warm April day in 1980, a hiker strayed off the Hardwood Lookout Trail and stumbled upon human remains. Scattered personal items, a leather wallet, a sleeping bag, and a single boot told fragments of a life, but nothing else. Police launched a full search. Posters went up.

Newspapers ran the story. Radio broadcasts appealed for help. Yet, no name surfaced. No clues led anywhere.

Years passed. Then, in 1995, a jawbone was found nearby. It belonged to the same young man. Still, his identity remained a mystery. In 2017, the Ontario Provincial Police [OPP] unveiled a clay reconstruction of his face. For the first time, the nameless man had a face, but a name continued to elude investigators.

It wasn't until the early 2020s that a new method of investigative genetic genealogy offered hope. Using DNA and genealogical research, detectives traced distant relatives, narrowing the search to two sisters in Canada. Imagine the weight of that moment when Ruth received the call in September 2023. Forty-five years of silence, shattered by a single, life-changing conversation: their brother had been found.

Finally, on Valentine's Day 2025, Ricky's identity was confirmed. He was Eric Singer, a carefree spirit of the early 70s, a young man who had disappeared at 22 while exploring Canada after college. For his sisters, Ruth and Merry, the years of uncertainty, the longing, and the unanswered questions finally gave way to closure.

Today, when they walk the trails where their brother's life ended, they are not alone. They are accompanied by the detectives who never gave up, standing on the shoulders of decades of investigation. Eric Singer's story reminds us of the enduring power of hope. That even when time stretches into generations, and mysteries seem unsolvable, the right combination of human dedication and scientific innovation can restore what was lost: identity, memory, and ultimately, family."

“In a world that often forgets, the forest remembered. And for one family, the silence of decades has finally been broken.”