Duncan MacPherson

Duncan MacPherson
Position	Defenceman
Shot	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (89 kg)
Teams	Springfield Indians Indianapolis Ice
Nationality	Canadian
Born	February 3, 1966(1966-02-03), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Died	August 9, 1989 (age 23), Stubai Alps, Austria
NHL Draft	20th overall, 1984 New York Islanders
Pro Career	1986 – 1989

Duncan MacPherson (February 3, 1966 – August 9, 1989) was a professional player who died under mysterious circumstances. He was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A standout defensive defenceman for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League, MacPherson was drafted in the first round, 20th overall, of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. He played minor league hockey for the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League and the Indianapolis Ice of the International Hockey League.

Disappearance

In the summer of 1989 he was going to Europe to possibly take a job as a player-coach for a hockey team in Dundee, Scotland, and he went on a solo vacation around Europe in August, 1989, before taking up the position. He was scheduled to arrive in Dundee on August 12. When he did not show up, his family went to look for him. His rental car was discovered six weeks later in the parking lot of the Stubaier Gletscher resort in the Stubai Alps in Austria, where he had rented a snowboard and taken lessons. He was last seen late in the afternoon of August 9 on the chairlift.

An account has him departing on foot alone, at night, into treachorous, icy wilderness that was unfamilar to him. How could a Canadian person who had lived through many cold winters not realize the danger of such a choice? Some speculate it was his way of committing suicide. The prideful former first round draft choice was certainly disheartened by the realization that he would never live his dream. In fact, he would never play even a single shift in the NHL. He would never experience the fame and the big money he was once so sure would be his. He had been released by the New York Islanders, and no other team was interested in him. He was only 23 years old, but no big league club saw enough in him to merit giving him a spot on their minor league team. They all passed on him. Perhaps they felt the ankle and knee injuries he experienced - injuries that saw him miss a substantial number of games in the minor leagues - had accumulated to rob him of his agility. Maybe they were put off by his crazy stories of being recruited by the CIA to be a spy. He had been forced to go to Scotland to stay employed in hockey. He was facing a future of forever being known as a first round bust, a guy who had the talent and had been given the opportunity, but never made it. Or worse, a guy who blew it. He never gained size after being drafted. He didn't work hard enough in the weight room. He weighed only 195 pounds in the end, only a hair more than he did at age 18, and more importantly undersized for someone with aspirations of being an NHL defenceman. He was never able to shake his bad habit of taking undisciplined penalties that often gave power play opportunities to opposing teams.

In July, 2003, an employee of the resort discovered his perfectly-preserved body in melting snow.

I am Duncan's mother.

I don't know the source of your information, but, I can tell you your account of him "departing on foot alone at night into treacorous icey wilderness" has no basis in fact.

The facts are: i) Duncan was last seen on the ski slope at 2:30 pm on 9 August 1989. ii) The snowboard, ski boots, and protective clothing he had rented that morning from the ski operator were not returned. iii) His sweater, turtleneck, and belt, which he had left hanging in the ski school, were not picked up at the end of the day. iv) His car sat in the parking lot of the ski resort for 42 days, until we located it, with help only from the Innsbruck ice hocey team, and their sponsor, Gosser brewery.

On 18 July 2003, his body was found in the middle of the ski slope, not far from where he had last been seen on 9 August 1989.

His left leg, left hand, and right arm show evidence of damage caused by being struck by snow-grooming machine, as does the snowboard, and boot bindings.

Police did not attend the death scene; slope maintenance persosnnel conducted unsupervised recovery of the body. The PUblic Prosecutor refused our request for an autopsy on grounds the case was "time-barred from investigation." Police lied about the location of death, lied about cause of death, lied abouot manner of death, and lied about date of death. The Coroner falsified the Death Certificate indicatin an autposy was conducted.

While Duncan was disappointed his hockey career didn't work out the way he would have liked, he felt satisfied he had done everything he could; he recognized some things were beyone his control; and he never regretted the time and effort he spent trying to achieve his goal.

For a detailed, factual account of his disappearanc/death, please see:

CBC 2006 documentary, "Iceman": http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/iceman/

CBC 2011 documenarry, "A Cold Case":http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2011-2012/acoldcase/

John Leake's new book, "Cold a Long Time, An Alpinne Mystery": http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Long-Time-Mystery-ebook/dp/B006DNW4QG

Hello Duncan's Mom,

No one knows for sure what occurred, since many facts are unknown. This Esquire article http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0104-JAN_GAME talks of Duncan being alone and talking of plans to go hiking after snowboarding. It also references an eye witness spotting a man hiking alone toward the end of the day. The article also describes Duncan as being dissatisfied, in a very down state of mind after being cut ("He could feel, already, that abandoning hockey might make him ache worse than his joints"). A downcast man alone in a dangerous wilderness - that's quite a combination.

You've introduced a whole series of allegations, suggesting cover-up, etc. In the end, I can tell you based on having some knowledge of this area of science, examining a body dead for more than a decade has many limitations. Determining a reliably accurate sequence of events and detailed causes of injuries/traumas on a body dead this long just isn't possible, not unless it was something as simple as a gun shot or stab wound.

Even a frozen body does decay, so while in theory freezing a body preserves it, the preservation would be far from 100% perfect. The act of thawing would cause damage to the organs and tissues unless it occurred in an incubator-like environment. Add 10+ years of time to all of this, and in the end you wouldn't be able to come up with more than very vague theories that wouldn't change anything, while costing a lot of money. And, if there was foul play or negligence of some sort (big if), the perpetrators are long gone, and 10+ years of time would have erased whatever other evidence (crime scene type evidence) there might have been.

Hello to above writer,

Thank you or your interest in this story.

For your information, Chris Jones wrote the Esquire article in October 2003; it was published in the January 2004 issue of Esquire.

The speculative rumors/theories of Duncan going hiking after snowboarding, a "lone spotted at the end of the day" are bogus; they were floated by authorities, and by the ski operator so as to deflect attention away from the facts.

This is a tourist area; on any given day one can see any number of "lone hikers".

The fact is Duncan was last seen on the afternoon of 9 August (2:30 pm), when he was snowboarding. No evidence established that he got off the ski slope, no evidence established the rented equipment had been returned; the car sat in the parking lot for 42 days, until we located it. At that time, we were not aware of the inadequate, superficial investigation of death; and thus, neither was Chris Jones.

Because the circumstances of Duncan's disappearance on 9 August 1989 were unusual, if not suspicious, in July 2003, when his body was found in the middle of the ski slope with the equipment he was known to have rented on the morning of 9 August, we assumed, and trusted authorities to conduct a serious investigation of his death.

I do not know if you are a forensic scientist, but I do know a number of forensic scientists in North America concluded Duncan's limbs were amputated by heavy-duty machinery.

The Statue of Limitations on criminal negligence is one issue; the investigation of a sudden death that occurred under unusual circumstances in another matter.

Whether or not the Statue prevented authorities from prosecuting the perpetrator has nothing to do with Duncan's right to have the cause and manner of his death investigated, and explained.

The Statute of Limitations should not be used as a means to prevent a proper investigation of death from taking place; that is improper application of the Statute.

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0104-JAN_GAME#ixzz1pUYje7Px

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1982–83	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		5	2	4	6	16		2	0	0	0	0
1983–84	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		45	0	14	14	74		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		69	9	26	35	116		3	0	0	0	4
1985–86	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		70	10	54	64	147		13	3	8	11	38
1986–87	Springfield Indians	AHL		26	1	0	1	86		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Springfield Indians	AHL		74	5	14	19	213		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Springfield Indians	AHL		24	1	5	6	69		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Indianapolis Ice	IHL		33	1	4	5	23		—	—	—	—	—
WHL totals				189	21	98	119	353		18	3	8	11	42
AHL totals				124	7	19	26	368		—	—	—	—	—

External links

• Duncan MacPherson's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Story of his disappearance
• Find-a-Grave Entry
• A documentary produced for the fifth estate by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.