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Body found on Lake Ontario shore in 1992 identified as man who went over Niagara Falls, drifted over 140 miles
A body found in 1992 on the shores of Lake Ontario has been identified more than 30 years later as a man from Buffalo who apparently went over Niagara Falls and whose body then drifted more than 140 miles.
The remains, which were found in April 1992, were “badly decomposed and mostly skeletal,” the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release, and were between six months and five years old. In 1992, attempts were made to identify the remains by comparing them to missing persons cases, but there were no matches.
In 2008, a DNA profile from the remains was uploaded to CODIS, a national database of DNA profiles, but no leads were generated, the sheriff’s department said. In 2022, the sheriff’s office “renewed efforts” to identify the remains, and the Niagara Regional Police Service in Ontario began comparing the remains and their DNA profile to unsaved cases in the area. A new DNA sample was obtained at that time.
It wasn’t until February 2024 that the new DNA sample was “found to be a familial match” to DNA collected from family members of Vincent C. Stack, a Buffalo, New York man who went missing in Niagara Falls State Park in 1990. According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, Stack was 40 at the time of his disappearance.
National Missing and Unidentified Persons System
Familial DNA matching is when a sample from a DNA profile is compared to that of a family member. It allows authorities to widen their search.
Police believe that Stack went over the falls, and that his remains then traveled about 15 miles to the mouth of a river before drifting over 130 miles across Lake Ontario to wash up on Oswego’s shores.
Stack’s family has been notified of his identification, the sheriff’s office said.
A similar unidentified remains case from 1983 is also under investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
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Topeka, Kansas — When Angelica Chernytska and her mother Larysa left war-torn Ukraine earlier this year, they never expected Topeka, Kansas, would quickly feel like home.
“I was overwhelmed, that is how I can describe my feelings,” Angelica told CBS News.
That’s because the people of this Midwestern city have created a modern-day welcome wagon.
“It’s very rewarding to see the children thrive in school, not afraid of sirens,” said Yana Ross, president of the nonprofit group Top City Promise.
Ross, who immigrated from Ukraine herself, started the volunteer group to help new immigrants, mostly Ukrainians so far, with almost all expenses for three months, including a place to live.
Larysa said she “was overwhelmed” to walk into a fully furnished apartment the day after she arrived in Topeka.
What is unique is how the group has partnered with the community to ensure the immigrants have more than just a roof over their heads. A Latter-day Saints church welcomes the newcomers to pick up free food, while a Catholic church stores donations that furnish the homes.
Topeka Public Schools has gone as far as hiring a director of cultural innovation, Dr. Pilar Mejía, who helps ease the transition for children.
“We need to strengthen our community from the ground up, and it starts with the children, and so we need to make sure that everybody feels like they’re important,” Mejía said. “They are seen, they are welcomed.”
Topeka Public Schools now has an international flair. In the district of almost 13,000, Ukrainian and Spanish are the most common languages after English. More than 200 refugees have benefitted from the program and the helping hand extends to all nationalities.
Lisbeth Amador came from Nicaragua with her husband and 6-year-old daughter Sury. The couple have jobs, a car and a good school for Sury.
“I love it,” Amador says of her family’s new home. “…It’s different, my life here.”
The cost of welcoming a family can range anywhere from $300 to $10,000 depending on needs. Top City Promise relies on fundraising and the big hearts of the people who call Topeka home.
“Community is what makes Topeka different, because of the desire of the Topeka community to help, to help them to be successful,” Ross said.
