By Angie Sullivan
A bone fragment found beneath a cottage at Riverview Christian Camp in Pefferlaw may offer a new lead in the 58-year-old disappearance of 12-year-old Robbie Brown.
Brown vanished on Aug. 3, 1968, after leaving the church campgrounds on Pefferlaw Road. The camp was one of the last known places he was seen.
Ken Bilboe, leader of the renewed search for Robbie Brown and described as one of Canada’s leading human trackers, said that the bone was discovered Saturday May 2, when volunteers conducted an authorized organic layer fingertip search on the grounds.
“This kind of highly detailed forensic technique involves searchers in outdoor field investigations working in a grid, on hands and knees, to locate small, hidden items of evidence. We sift through the top layers of soil, leaves and organic matter,” said Bilboe.
The team included members from Highlands Tracking Search and Rescue, Please Bring Me Home and local volunteers. The search was conducted with permission and assistance from representatives of the Church of the Nazarene and Riverview Christian Camp.
The search area was narrowed to the back of Cottage 47 after some direction from an individual who had been on the scene the day Robbie disappeared.
“During the excavation, we located a bone fragment of interest,” Bilboe said. “When I searched underneath the cottage, I located the bone, which was identified as an unfused proximal epiphysis of a humerus by a bioarchaeologist who was assisting with the search.”
According to Bilboe, the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto confirmed the identification.
“The most significant detail in this find is that this particular bone fragment is ‘unfused’, meaning that it is specific to a prepubescent skeleton, belonging to a young person that is younger than 14 or 15 years old,” said Bilboe.
Robbie was 12 when he disappeared. The bone was handed over to police, and there is hope that DNA testing could provide clarity.
“We are not suggesting that this is Robbie’s bone, but as investigators we must strive to eliminate that possibility and the only way to do that with certainty is through modern DNA testing. The Brown family has submitted DNA to the police,” Bilboe said. “The small price it would cost is not too much to ask for a family that has been waiting for answers for 58 years.”
York Regional Police is holding the scene at the church camp for further investigation.
Ross Brown, Robbie’s younger brother, said after hearing of the discovery, “So much can happen in a single weekend! Thanks to Ken Bilboe and everyone that has helped all along the way!”
“As a word of emotional caution, Ross and I have personally spoken many times about not wanting to engage in false hope when new information comes to light on Robbie’s case,” Bilboe said.
If anyone wants to learn more about this case, host John Lordon does a deep dive on The BrainScratch Searchlight Podcast. The episode about Robbie Brown can be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5VynJT4CHM.
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