CANADA Canada- David Manuel Hannah, 37, prison guard @ Millhaven Institution, went missing enroute to work, Kingston, Ont. 4 Jan. 1983

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David Hannah was last seen on Jan. 4, 1983. Police believe he was murdered.
2011
ottawa.ctvnews.ca

$50,000-reward offered in eastern Ontario cold case

The provincial government is offering a $50,000-reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons who murdered an eastern Ontario prison guard 28 years ago.
ottawa.ctvnews.ca
''The provincial government is offering a $50,000-reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons who murdered an eastern Ontario prison guard 28 years ago.

David Hannah went missing on Jan. 4, 1983 when he left his house in Amherstview, Ont. – a town just west of Kingston – to go to work at the Millhaven Institution. He was reported missing two weeks later.

Ontario Provincial Police say he was driving a blue 1969 Oldsmobile Delta 88 when he disappeared. The vehicle's Ontario license plate number is SMY 921.

Police say he has not accessed any of his bank accounts since he disappeared and the investigation leads them to believe he was murdered.

Police hope the reward will help dig up new information about the case. Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to contact OPP at 1-888-310-1122.''
 

''1892DMON - David Manuel Hannah​

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Name: David Manuel Hannah
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: January 4, 1983
Location Last Seen: Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: April 23, 1946
Age: 37 years old
Race: Native
Gender: Male
Height: 165 cm (5'4")
Weight: 75 kg (165 lbs)
Hair Color: Short, grey or white
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers​

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance​

David Hannah was last seen in Kingston, Ontario on January 4, 1983.

Mr. Hannah was employed as a prison guard at Millhaven Maximum Security Penitentiary in Kingston.

On January 19, 1983, Hannah was reported missing to police after failing to show up for work two weeks earlier.

The investigation revealed that he had worked nine hours’ overtime on January 4 and attended the Federal Employees Credit Union, where he withdrew $100 from his account.

His apartment was found undisturbed and contained all of his belongings.

At the time of his disappearance, he lived alone in an apartment in Millhaven.

Hannah has not accessed any of his bank accounts since his disappearance.

His vehicle, a 1969 blue Oldsmobile Delta 88 , with Ontario License plate SYM 921 has not been located.''
 
Cross-posting thread where DMH is referenced..
www.websleuths.com

Identified! - Canada - Lake Ontario, Highway 33 & County Road 6, Amherstview, Ont., human remains removed from submerged blue car, May 2023 - David Hannah

May 4 2023 https://globalnews.ca/news/9675287/human-remains-car-recovery-lake-ontario-completed/ ''A painstaking recovery process continued to unfold in Lake Ontario for a second day. Police divers in Amherstview, Ont., have now recovered human remains found inside a submerged car. It’s...
www.websleuths.com www.websleuths.com
 
Two weeks missing is a long time before somebody realised something was off.

He lived alone, but didn't have any friends, family or colleagues he would've spoken to in those 2 weeks?

I'm surprised his employers waited that long to be honest, although the early 80s was a different era, it's still a long time to wait before taken action on a missing staff member, especially considering his job.

I wonder what happened to the car? There seems to be no information on if that was ever discovered......
 
If he and the car have gone missing together, time to check nearby waterways. It seems like almost always if a car and person are both missing, they are likely together in a body of water. IMO
 
annpats said:
Two weeks missing is a long time before somebody realised something was off.

He lived alone, but didn't have any friends, family or colleagues he would've spoken to in those 2 weeks?

I'm surprised his employers waited that long to be honest, although the early 80s was a different era, it's still a long time to wait before taken action on a missing staff member, especially considering his job.

I wonder what happened to the car? There seems to be no information on if that was ever discovered......
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''His vehicle, a 1969 blue Oldsmobile Delta 88 , with Ontario License plate SYM 921 has not been located.''
 
ErinC said:
Wow!! Might not hurt for someone to mention that to the provincial police.
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I believe that the OPP is aware of the missing person connection to the newly recovered vehicle. From the link above:

"The next step will be to send the human remains for forensic examination, and for the vehicle to be examined closer, to figure out what kind of vehicle it is,” says Const. Shannon Cork with the Lennox & Addington OPP.

''Missing persons cases will be re-examined to look for a fit — for example, the case of Amherstview resident David Hannah, who went missing in 1983 and was driving a blue 1969 Delta 88.
 
ErinC said:
If he and the car have gone missing together, time to check nearby waterways. It seems like almost always if a car and person are both missing, they are likely together in a body of water. IMO
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Yes, I'm not sure why the police immediately jumped to the idea he was murdered back then.....
 
May 17 2023
1684336473281.png
''Human remains have been located in Lake Ontario, east of Napanee, connected to a cold case from 1983.

L&A OPP and the Underwater Search and Recovery Unit, recovered a vehicle from the lake near Amherstview, back in January.

They spotted another vehicle during their search, one that contained human remains.

They belonged to a David Hannah, a Millhaven Penitentiary prison guard, from Amherstview, who was murdered

The 36 year went missing in 1983.

In 2011, the province offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.

Quinte News was told by the OPP that the cause of death is not known at this time and no other details are known at this time.

OPP Divers, assisted by OPP Urban Search and Rescue, OPP Marine Units, H.R. Doornekamp Construction and Dundee Marine, were able to recover the remains and the vehicle in early May.''
 
I'm glad his family will be getting some closure/healing and that they may hopefully be getting some measure of relief knowing he wasn't murdered.
 
Last edited:
annpats said:
Yes, I'm not sure why the police immediately jumped to the idea he was murdered back then.....
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Maybe his profession would put him on the radar of criminals - though most prison guards get along really well with the inmates and ive yet to find a case where one was murdered.
And David was Native and Native men and women sadly still are subject to more violence and get murdered more often than whites. But still no great reason for LE to jump to this quick conclusion.
David was probably just tired after a long workday and drove home in the dark of winter, likely missing the road and ending up in the water
 
musicaljoke said:
I wonder what made police believe he had been murdered? Was it merely that he was a prison guard? Or was there evidence of a crime?
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I think the reason they were leaning toward homicide is that not only did he leave all of his belongings, there was no suicide note ever recovered, and he withdrew $100 from his account right before he went missing. People don’t withdraw money and then commit suicide. People who want to disappear on the other hand, take at least a few of their belongings with them when they leave, such as clothing, but that was not the case here. An accident would have left evidence like broken guard rails, as the area where his vehicle was found, the lake is separated from the roadways by guard rails. Broken guard rails absolutely would have tipped off law enforcement to check waterway’s thoroughly. The only other way into the water in this area is via the boat launches and that doesn’t sound like a likely scenario for a suicide. I too lean towards homicide as the COD.
 
The original articles surrounding the discovery of the vehicle alluded to it being suspicious or surprising. The wording was unclear and could have meant either it was surprising they were finding a car/body in Lake Ontario (which is relatively common, considering they discovered the car during a recovery effort for another car) or that the vehicle itself was suspicious. Perhaps he was not found in the driver's seat of the car, maybe in the trunk etc.

That said, I think this is probably just a case where they thought something malicious had happened to him, prison guards are often a target of violence from released offenders. I do wonder why they didn't search the water at the time, or anytime since. Yes, the technology we have would have not existed back then, but some scuba gear could have found him with some effort. The distance from Amherstview to Bath is a 6 minute drive, 7km straight along the water. Kind of obvious when his car was missing, too. MOO
 
His car was found pretty deep into the water as well, it would have floated for a while, or maybe slowly made its way across the floor of the lake over all this time? Not really sure on that, it was farther in than most cars I've seen on Adventure's with Purpose and the like.
 
Bopit said:
The original articles surrounding the discovery of the vehicle alluded to it being suspicious or surprising. The wording was unclear and could have meant either it was surprising they were finding a car/body in Lake Ontario (which is relatively common, considering they discovered the car during a recovery effort for another car) or that the vehicle itself was suspicious. Perhaps he was not found in the driver's seat of the car, maybe in the trunk etc.

That said, I think this is probably just a case where they thought something malicious had happened to him, prison guards are often a target of violence from released offenders. I do wonder why they didn't search the water at the time, or anytime since. Yes, the technology we have would have not existed back then, but some scuba gear could have found him with some effort. The distance from Amherstview to Bath is a 6 minute drive, 7km straight along the water. Kind of obvious when his car was missing, too. MOO
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Broken guardrails would have tipped off the police back in 83 to a car going over the cliff.
 
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