Northern Ont. police identify remains of 1986 murder victim; cold case featured in true crime podcast

Ontario Provincial Police say advances in DNA technology has allowed them to identify human remains discovered in the 1980s.

The remains belong to Agnes May Appleyard, who was 71 when she disappeared April 29, 1986, from a property on Highway 520 in Emsdale.

At the time, the OPP conducted an extensive search of the property but found nothing. Then on April 17, 1987, another search of the property located human remains.

“The Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service examined the remains but were unable to determine the identity of the deceased person,” police said in a news release this week.

“In 1988, as a result of the investigation an 82-years-old male was arrested and charged with second degree murder. That individual, who is now deceased, was acquitted in court.”

The investigation was reopened Nov. 5, 2019, and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service requested “familial DNA samples in effort to identify the remains,” police said.

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“On April 12, 2023, advancement of DNA analysis technology at the Centre of Forensic Sciences provided confirmation of the identity of the remains as Agnes Appleyard.”

Appleyard’s case has been the subject of independent investigations, including by the Whereabouts Unknown podcast, which has worked with the family to try and advance the investigation.

FAMILY STATEMENT

Her husband, Sydney Appleyard, was charged with her murder in 1988, but was acquitted in 1990, largely because her body hadn’t been found, according to news reports at the time.

On Wednesday, the podcast released a statement from Teresa Appleyard, the victim’s granddaughter.

“In 2021 I reached out to the Whereabouts Unknown team for help in finding my grandmother Agnes May Appleyard, who disappeared in 1986,” the statement said.

“And today we would like to thank them for their efforts and dedication to her case.”

It was widely reported during Sydney Appleyard’s trial that Agnes was the victim of intimate partner violence, something Teresa referred to in her statement.

“My grandmother’s story wasn’t widely known, and the investigation into her disappearance sadly had not moved forward in 35 years,” she wrote.

“But we were not prepared to give up on my grandmother, who had suffered so much throughout her lifetime.”