On May 3, 1975, a local farmer discovered a female body in the Nation River a short distance from Highway 417 bridge, south of the Town of Casselman. The woman, who came to be known as “Nation River Lady” was never identified and, to this day, the case remains unsolved.
In early August, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) began a social media campaign reaching out to the public for any information that might help police identify the woman or the person(s) responsible for her death.
The campaign
With advances in technology and the help of an OPP forensic artist, the social media campaign included numerous photographs of the items located with the Nation River Lady at the time of discovery. They also released a video of the three-dimensional clay facial reconstruction of the Nation River Lady’s head and face.
Since launching the campaign, the OPP has received and is following up on more than 18 tips from the public. Videos posted to the OPP Facebook received a total of 21,098 views, while content on Twitter was viewed 32,048 times in English and 7,274 times in French.
Case Background
Nation River Lady is described as being a Caucasian woman, age 25-50 years old, between 5’2″ and 5’8″ in height, average build, approximately 100 lbs with brown hair that was dyed a reddish blonde.
Her body was wrapped with two pieces of green cloth, two towels – one depicting an Irish Toast and the second displaying multiple flowers. Additionally, a j-cloth, black coaxial cable and a curtain rod runner were with the body. Her hands and feet were bound with neckties; a blue tie with small Canada flag emblems known as “the Canadian tie”, a blue striped silk tie, and a red tie with yellow patterns.
The Nation River Lady was wearing a navy-blue body suit which had a collar, buttons ¾ down the front, long sleeves and snaps that secured in the crotch area. Her toe nails and fingernails were manicured and painted with pink nail polish, she had an appendix operation scar, and she wore partial upper and lower dentures. A copy of her fingerprints and DNA profile are on file.
Sending Information
Media resources, including digital still photos of the 3-D facial reconstruction, photos of the area where the remains were found, the items located with her, along with a map of where she was found are still available at this link: www.opp.ca/media/nrl. Additionally, the dedicated tip-line for Nation River Lady is still available at 613-591-2296 or 1-888-310-1122.
Under the direction of Case Manager, Detective Inspector Dan Nadeau of the Criminal Investigation Branch and Missing Persons and Unidentified Bodies Unit (MPUB), members continue to follow-up on all information provided and thank everyone who has called or provided information via e-mail. Anyone with new information on the case can call the dedicated missing persons hotline toll-free at 1-877-934-6363 (1-877-9-FIN
