Found Deceased Canada - Justin Evans, 22, Gravenhurst, Ont, 12 Dec 2020

[bombardier]

There is something in this article that has been nagging at me.

I'm not an expert or trained in the forensics of a decomposing body, but I believe part of the science behind decomp is if there is a wound on the body of someone that is deceased, that part of the body will decompose faster than areas that do not have a wound.

So if JE's head an neck area had more decomp than the rest if his body, does that point to trauma or a wound?

Did the advanced state of decomp to the head and neck area prevent the coroner from fully determining what happened?

Is this why the coroner disagrees with LE on what happened to JE?

Does the family know from the coroner what their findings or opinion is?

I have a passing knowledge of decomp.. the way his body was found and of course the length it was out there provides so many variables that it's almost impossible to infer anything from decomp patterns alone. While a wound can encourage accelerated decomp, at least at first, the head/neck always seem to decompose faster? I believe it's a combination of the various orifices attracting bug/animal activity moreso than the rest of the body, the digestive enzymes maggots bring breaks down the skin and reveals the abundant soft tissue etc etc, where on the distal limbs activity is limited and the skin likely remains intact, the minimal soft tissue of a hand or a wrist can dessicate, and mummification/skeletonization is more likely. I'm guessing the skin over his wrist had started to mummify and that's how they saw the superficial wounds.
There's also other factors like position of the body (if you've ever seen someone who dies head-down, the congestion/bloating helped by gravity/extra fluid purging really helps the head area decompose quickly, at least at first), if any part of the body was in the water (generally being underwater slows decomp), etc
Super super frustrating for family + coroner because you just know if law enforcement had done their job and investigated the swamp, Justin would have been found relatively intact and this case would be solved by now.

 

[bombardier]

I believe it's a combination of the various orifices attracting bug/animal activity moreso than the rest of the body,

(snipped by me) in the article you linked above the coroner is quoted as saying there was evidence of scavenging around the neck area.
"“The postmortem scavenging artefacts to the neck and chest area may have obscured some injuries that could have been fatal,” the report said."

 

[cnmccarthy]

'They just got away with it': Mom of Gravenhurst's Justin Evans responds to end of investigation into his death

On Aug. 16, Watson told Metroland he had been reassigned six months prior. The family said they were not informed of this. Metroland asked OPP multiple times who the new lead investigator was but was not given their name.

However, police did have new information to work with since January, said Wise: GPS co-ordinates from Evans’ phone, which his family tracked between Dec. 11 and 13, 2020. While Wise said this information was given to police previously, they told her they were not aware of it until it was mentioned in January.

“I don't understand how they can ignore that information. It just makes me very angry,” she said. “Justin deserved better. He deserves them to try. I really don't even feel like they tried.”

 

[loveisthemovement]

'They just got away with it': Mom of Gravenhurst's Justin Evans responds to end of investigation into his death

On Aug. 16, Watson told Metroland he had been reassigned six months prior. The family said they were not informed of this. Metroland asked OPP multiple times who the new lead investigator was but was not given their name.

However, police did have new information to work with since January, said Wise: GPS co-ordinates from Evans’ phone, which his family tracked between Dec. 11 and 13, 2020. While Wise said this information was given to police previously, they told her they were not aware of it until it was mentioned in January.

“I don't understand how they can ignore that information. It just makes me very angry,” she said. “Justin deserved better. He deserves them to try. I really don't even feel like they tried.”

This is local to me. My heart breaks for Justin's mom. Police have not been forthcoming nor very victim friendly.

 

[dotr]

2022

'They just got away with it': Mom of Gravenhurst's Justin Evans responds to end of investigation into his death

The investigation has been concluded.

www.muskokaregion.com

''Read our coverage of the Justin Evans case

Visit MYSTERY IN MUSKOKA: What happened to Justin Evans to read more about how the Justins Evans case has unfolded to date. Click on the links to hear from his family, from police, from the community, from the coroner, and from the court about the mysterious death of the 22-year-old Kilworthy man.''