Season 1 Update

Our season finale aired in May 2016, but the investigation into the Adrien McNaughton case has continued. 

(You can listen to Season 1 from the beginning through our website, in iTunes or your favourite podcast app.)

Here are a few of the things that David Ridgen and his team of volunteers have discovered since May.

Dive #2

A second search dive was conducted shortly after Season 1 ended.

This dive was more time-efficient than the first, as master diver Mike Grebler and his team had a better idea of some of the difficulties they'd face — including a remote location, poor visibility and deep mud — and how to deal with them.

Using screens that Mike and David made out of PVC pipe and wire mesh to manually sift through the muck, divers and two volunteers from a Toronto high school discovered a small piece of rubber.

It was the type of rubber that you might find around the edge or toe of a small shoe.

Meeting with Police

Police met with the McNaughton family at their home in Arnprior, Ontario.

The rubber that was found during the second search dive was given to them at that point, and they promised to look into it further.

Police noted that some new information had come to their attention as the result of the podcast, including the tip about the black & white Dodge that John Gervais had seen at the lake the day Adrien McNaughton disappeared.

Police Dogs

After this meeting, police conduct a search of Holmes Lake with a single search dog.

However, the police dog did not indicate at any spot in or around Holmes Lake.

Cadaver dog trainer Kim Cooper subsequently returned to the area with another handler and three dogs.

They noticed more interesting behaviour from their dogs. In fact, some of the indications were even stronger than before.

Shifting Logs

With the approval of the Ministry of Natural Resources, a crew of volunteers got back in the water to shift some of the fallen trees out of the search area.

Previously, divers were unable to adequately search as much as half the area because of these logs.

Using saws, hoists and rope, the team was able to get the largest and most dangerous logs out of the way in preparation for Dive #3.

Dive #3

The tactic for the third search dive involved pumping sediment onto shore where it could be more easily sifted through by volunteers.

A pump was placed on a boat above the divers who worked their way through the sludge on the bottom of the lake.

This was the best search method found to date, and it yielded some intriguing results:

Tooth?

About halfway through the day, the search team on shore identified a small hard object, slightly tapered, shiny with white and yellow gradations.

Could it be a tooth?  

It was discovered in eight feet of water, about 20 feet from shore, near the location where the dogs indicated.

This object and others deemed to have potential for further study were placed in plastic bags.

The SKS team is currently in the process of finding the right forensic dentist to determine whether the small white-ish object is, in fact, a tooth.

We'll let you know as soon as we have results.

WEB EXTRA

A 360° view of Holmes Lake. 

On desktop, the video works best in Chrome browser or watch it directly on Facebook or YouTube.

On desktop: Click and drag your mouse on the video to explore. 

On mobile: Move your mobile device in the direction you want to look.