Web site short URL: www.DanielTrask.ca
Welcome to the Daniel Trask Investigative Web Site. The design, maintenance, and hosting of this site is provided as a
free, public service of Michigan Backcountry
Search and Rescue (MibSAR) of Marquette, Michigan, USA.
M
ibSAR is a small, civilian, all-volunteer, Long-Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG) founded and led by Michael Neiger of Marquette, Michigan that assists agencies of jurisdiction with select missing-person and felony cold-case investigations, primarily in remote wilderness areas of Michigan (United States) and Northern Ontario (Canada). All of MibSAR's investigations, searches, services, and work products are provided free of charge to the agency of jurisdiction, the victim, and the victim's family.
BREAKING NEWS: Danial Trask was found by Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue's (MibSAR's) Long Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG) in Temagami's Backcountry on May 24, 2015.
Dan's Book of Memories
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Post-recovery media stories...
• The Temiskaming Speaker (Temiskaming, Ontario, Canada) June 10, 2015
• 570 News (Kitchener, Ontario) June 7, 2015
• The Temiskaming Speaker (Temiskaming, Ontario, Canada) June 3, 2015
• Ottertooth—News Brief May 28, 2015
• Ottertooth—Daniel Trask Remains Recovered (discussion thread) May 28, 2015
• The Record (Waterloo, Ontario) May 28, 2015
• CTV News Kitchener (Kitchener, Ontario) May 28, 2015
• The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario, Canada) May 28, 2015
• The Temiskaming Speaker (Temiskaming, Ontario, Canada) May 28, 2015
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• Gone-missing incident
• Personal info
• Missing clothing & gear
• Found clothing & gear
• Media
• Video
• Photo
• Social
• Print
• Investigative poster
• Web badges
• Friends of Daniel
• Official Web sites
• Report info & tips
• SAR Operations Beta
• Land nav
• Weather
• Case updates—What's new; What's happening
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Daniel Trask, age 28, left his home in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada on November 3, 2011. He was last seen in Temagami, Ontario buying some food and inquiring about purchasing a map for a visit to the Temagami backcountry.
Dan's vehicle was subsequently found parked along Red Squirrel Road near Camp Wanapitei, on Temagami Lake's Ferguson Bay.
View high-resolution imagery of where Daniel's car was found in northern Ontario.
On Sunday May 20, 2012, some of Daniel’s clothing was found by a paddler, about 29 kilometers from where his vehicle was parked. His winter coat, snowboarding pants, and combination hat and scarf were located in Obabika River Provincial Park, along the east side of the Northeast Arm of Diamond Lake—across from the pictographs—and just south of the lift-over to Lady Evelyn Lake.
On August 12, 2013, members of Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue's
Long Range Special Operations Group located located Daniel's backpack and snowshoes along east shore of the Northeast Arm of Diamond Lake, near its southern limit.
Detail map of Diamond Lake area showing where and when items related to Daniel's have been found to date. (Map courtesy of Mareen Trask)
Dan is very resourceful and comfortable in a natural environment. He is also familiar with Temagami as he spent time in the summer canoeing and portaging extensively throughout the area.
It is very unusual for Dan to not have contact with family and friends for this length of time.
While Dan may have some supplies, he does not have communication equipment with him. To learn more about what Daniel may have been wearing, and what he was carrying, click here.
To learn more about the mystery of what happened to Daniel, read "Into The Light—Last Summer, Daniel Trask Fell In Love With The Temagami Wilderness In Northern Ontario. And Late Last Fall He Vanished Into It, Leaving Behind Little More Than A Mystery," by Conor Mihell, in the Fall 2012 issue of Explore Magazine.
Article about Daniel in the Fall 2012 issue of Explore Magazine.
Explore Magazine also published this story—under the title of "The Story Behind A Missing Man," and without photos—on their Web site.
A condensed version of the Explore Magazine article was also published as "Vanishing Point" in the January 2013 issue of Readers Digest (Canada) Magazine.
Article about Daniel in the January 2013 issue of Readers Digest (Canada) Magazine.
Conor Mihell, the Sault Ste. Marie journalist who authored Explore Magazine's "Into The Light" article, won a coveted Canadian National Magazine first-place prize—a gold award—for this article in Toronto, Ontario on June 7, 2013 (which, coincidentally, is the date of Daniel's birthday).
Conor is also credited with finding Daniel's winter jacket and pants along the shore of Diamond Lake during a May, 2012 canoe trip through the area Daniel went missing in.
MibSAR's hat is off to Conor, both for publicizing this case so articulately, and for finding evidence that helped narrow down the search area for future SAR efforts.
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| First name: | Daniel |  |
| Middle name: | Robert | |
| Last name: | Trask | |
| Nicknames: | Dan; Danny | |
| Missing since: | November 3, 2011 | |
| Missing location: | Temagami Backcountry, |
|
| Hometown: | Waterloo | |
| Province: | Ontario | |
| Country: | Canada | |
| Gender: | Male | |
| Race: | Caucasian | |
| Age: | 28 (in 2011) | |
| Birth date: | June 7, 1983 | |
| Place of birth: | Kitchener, Ontario, Canada | |
| Height: | 5' 8" | |
| Weight: | 145 pounds | |
| Build: | Slender | |
| Fitness level: | Very physically fit | |
| Skin complexion: | Medium, tanned | |
| Head hair color: | Dark brown | |
| Head hair length: | Short when he went missing | |
| Facial hair color: | Brown | |
| Facial hair length: | Shaven when he went missing | |
| Left eye color: | Brown | |
| Right eye color: | Brown | |
| Tattoos: | None | |
| Piercings: | None | |
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| Pants: | Lime-green snowboarding/ski pants (found) |  |
| Jacket: | Columbian white & blue ski jacket (found) | |
| Hat & scarf combo: | (found) | |
| Sweater: | White zip hoodie | |
| Shirt: | Orange T-shirt with eagle logo on front |
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| Shirt: | Black T-shirt with Indian/Wolf |
|
| Pants: | Gray sweat pants | |
| Gloves: | Black & lime-green (flourescent green) |
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| Shoes: | Black size 9 running shoes with shiny black toe caps | |
| Boots: | Gray size 9 snow-boarding boots | |
| Backpack: | May be carrying a black knapsack (found) | |
| Snowshoes: | Grey/white Atlas aluminum snowshoes (found) | |
| Knife: | Small Rapala fillet knife with |
|
| Wristwatch: | Did not wear one | |
| Wallet: | May have carried a black nylon wallet | |
| Keys:: | May have carried at least one car key | |
| Book: | May have carried a 2" by 2" by 1/2" hard-cover book entitled "Wisdom of Native Americans" |
Notice: The lead agency on this case—The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)—requests that anyone who finds an item of interest related to this case should leave it in place and untouched, forwarding a picture of the item as well as its location and global positioning system (GPS) coordinates to them via one of the contact options listed below.
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| Vehicle | On November 11, 2011, Daniel's vehicle—a gold, 4-door, 2000, Chev Impala—was found in the parking area for Camp Wanapitei, along the south side of Red Squirrel Road (UTM 0570522mE 5224989mN; Zone 17; Datum NAD 83), by Jeff Geiler, with assistance from Don Wright and Alex Mathias. The vehicle contained an orange t-shirt, work gloves, and a disposable camera, that, when developed, contained some of the last known images of Daniel (See Maureen Trask's Smilebox photo album/slidshow). |  |
| Pants: | On May 20, 2012, Daniel's winter pants were found on shore along the east side of the northeast arm of Diamond Lake, just south of the lift-over to Lady Eveyln Lake (UTM 0558874mE 5230717mN; Zone 17; Datum NAD 83), by Conor and Kim Mihell, and the Birch Bark Canoe Building group (Adam Wicks-Arshack, John Zinser, Dan Cassell), who were en route to Maple Mountain |  |
| Jacket & hat/scarf combo: | On May 20, 2012, Daniel's winter jaceket and hat-and-scarf combo were found on shore along the east side of the northeast arm of Diamond Lake, just south of the lift-over to Lady Eveyln Lake (UTM 0558903mE 5230670mN; Zone 17; Datum NAD 83), by Conor and Kim Mihell, and the Birch Bark Canoe Building group (Adam Wicks-Arshack, John Zinser, Dan Cassell), who were en route to Maple Mountain |  |
| Backpack & snowshoes: | On August 12, 2013, Daniel's black Northern Escape backpack was found, on the shore along the southeast side of Diamond Lake, east of Sharp Rock Bay and just north of Foster Creek (UTM 0561962mE 5227107mN; Zone 17; Datum NAD 83), by Chris Ozminski, Cathy Susan, and Michael Neiger of Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MibSAR). The backpack contained: |
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Evidence scatter as of September 22, 2013
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Video about Daniel's case created by 80ZGuy, April 16, 2013
Changing Of The Seasons (COTS) video in the Temagami backcountry attended by Daniel in 2011, created by Michael Messner
Daniel Trask (stern), leaving for a trip to Obabika Lake for COTS (Changing of the Seasons), with Kostya, by Dmitri Poukhlov, September 17, 2011
Bear Temagami video at Camp Wanapitei, by Chris Linklater, May 11, 2012
Danny Trask Temagami, video of OPP heli searching for Daniel, by Chris Linklater, May 23, 2012
2014 Spring Search, 05-24-14 Trask 10-day Expeditionary SAR Operation, Temagami Backcountry Ontario Canada , by Michael Neiger, MibSAR, June 6, 2014
Hoping for Change in Rules, CTV Kitchener, by Nicole Lampa , October 23, 2014
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SmileBox Photo Album created by Daniel's Mom, Maureen Trask
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Primary sources
Follow Daniel's case on the OtterTooth Forums under "ALERT—Missing Person Daniel Trask" topic:
• November 15, 2011 to August 3, 2012 ALERT-Missing Person thread
• August 10, 2012 to June 27, 2013 ALERT-Missing Person Daniel Trask thread
• June 30, 2013 to May 22, 2014 ALERT-Missing Person Daniel Trask-3 thread
• May 23, 2014 to current ALERT-Missing Person Daniel Trask-4• OtterTooth News Briefs on Daniel's case (scroll down forum page for Trask-related news and links)
Daniel Trask Is Missing Facebook page
Secondary sources
Follow Daniel's case on the Unsolved Murders—Missing People Canada Forum
under "Daniel Trask • Missing • November 3, 2013 • Believed to be in the Temagami area"
Follow Daniel's case on the Wilderness Canoe Association's Canadian Canoe Routes—My CCR forum
Follow Daniel's case on the GPS Adventure Touring forum
Follow Daniel's case on the Ontario Fishing Community forum
Danny Trask's personal Facebook page
A Brand New Day! blog post about Daniel's case by Don Wright
Reflections On the Outdoors Naturally
Update on Daniel Trask Missing
Voyages of Rediscovery - Birch Bark Canoe Building, May 26, 2012
"The Power of the Canoe is showing it self in many ways, from getting young people excited about their heritage to helping a family with a missing son. Towards the end of our latest material search trip, we found some clothing items of Daniel Trask, who has been missing since last November. We didn’t find Daniel, only some clothing but we know his spirit is with the land and he is where he wants to be, no matter where that is."
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Print-media stories about Daniel's case:
• November 19, 2011, "Waterloo Family Believes Son May Be Missing," CTV Southwestern Ontario
• December 14, 2011, "Missing Man Believed To Be In Temagami Area," by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario)
• April 30, 2012, "Search on for Man Missing Six Months," by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario)
• May 18, 2012, "OPP: Missing Person—Daniel Trask," TimsDaily.com
• June 18, 2012, "Families of Missing Persons Gather to Raise Awareness and Support," by Janek Lowe, The Record (Kitchener, Ontario)
• September 10, 2012, "Missing Man Remains a Mystery," by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario)
• September 3, 2012, "Missing Man," by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario)
• October 5, 2012, "Man Found in Good Health," by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario
• December 31, 2012, "Looking For Answers in 2013," by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario)
• August 28, 2013, "Trask Backpack Found," by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario)
• August 29, 2013, "Missing Boy's Backpack Found in Temagami," by Amada Cupido, Moose FM 99.3, West Nipissing Quest
• November 09, 2013, "Families of Missing Live In Limbo," by Greg Mercer, The Record (Kitchener, Ontario)
• November 10, 2013, "Missing Persons Deserve to be Found," by Gord Young, The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario)
• December 4, 2013, "Dan Trask and the green snake of Maple Mountain," Friends of Temagami; Temagami, Ontario
• January 18, 2014, "Families of missing push for change," by Greg Mercer, The Record (Kitchener, Ontario)
• May 20, 2014, "2014 Search for Daniel Trask Resumes," The Temiskaming Speaker (Temiskaming, Ontario)
• September 16, 2014, "Police focus on missing as parents push for change," by Greg Mercer, The Record (Waterloo, ON)
• September 16, 2014, "Waterloo police to change handling of missing person cases," Staff, Metroland News Service
• May 25, 2015, "Missing Ontario man’s family wants more powers for police to help searchers: Family now resuming search with cadaver dogs for Daniel Trask, lost since wilderness trip in Temagami, in 2011," Toronto Observer, (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
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View or print PDF copy of Daniel Trask's Investigative Poster
The above Pocket Card was produced courtesy of the generous folks at Ozone Communications, Waterloo, Ontario; and Cober Evolving Solutions, Kitchener, Ontario.
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To save one of Daniel's Official Web Badges on to your computer, or share one on social media, simply hoover your mouse over a badge, "right click" the mouse, and select the "Save Image As" menu option. You can also "drag" a badge onto your desktop by hoovering your mouse over the badge, holding the left mouse button down, dragging the badge onto your desktop, and releasing the left button.
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The Trask Family would like to thank the individuals, agencies, and entities referenced on this Web page for their assistance and support with the investigation of Daniel's disappearance.
They would also like to express their appreciation to:
• Alex Mathias: Ottertooth, Temagami History; Nativeweb, Misabi Family Head; FB Jusquado-Pine Cone Project
• The Art of Peter Allan Rice (Inner Strength pictured): Website; Facebook
• BAYSAR Air Search and Rescue: Website
• Blue Sky Search and Rescue Assistance Society (BSSAR): Facebook; Nugget article
• Camp Wanapitei: Website; Facebook
• Chrismar Adventure Maps: Website; What's New Blog
• Earthroots: Web site; Facebook
• Friends of Temagami: Web site; Facebook
• Hap Wilson: Web site; Facebook
• Ian and Elizabeth Payne, England. The Payne's graciously gifted us his cherished "Red Indian" book by Edward Shirley in honour of Daniel. It was a prized book of his grandfather, awarded to him in July 1914. Daniel's story touched so many amazing people, now friends. We received the book in Dec. 2014 from Daniel's cousin who brought it home from England where he is residing after receiving it from Ian. What a wonderful gift for Daniel and our family. —Maureen Trask and Family
• Kitchener Professional Fire Fighters Association: Web site Thanks for the beautiful cedar boxed Holy Bible as a loving remembrance of Daniel, along with a poem "The Plan of the Master Weaver". — Maureen Trask and Family
• Lure of the North: Web site; Facebook
• Municipality of Temagami: Web site; Facebook
• Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources (MNR) and Parks
Ontario: Web site; Facebook
• Ontario Provincial Police: Web site; Facebook
• Ottawa Valley SAR Dog Association: Web site Thanks to Kim Cooper and Pauline Sunman with their cadaver dogs Grief and Quinn. —Maureen Trask and Family
• Roadpost Inc., Canada: Web site; Facebook
• Simon Donato: Article; Facebook
• Temagami Chamber of Commerce and
Information Centre: Web site; Facebook
• Temagami First Nation: Web site; Facebook
• Temagami Lakes Association: Web site
• Temiskaming Search and Rescue (TEMSAR) Facebook; member of the Civil Air Search and Rescue (CASARA) of Ontairo: Web site 1, 2
• Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS):
Web site; Facebook
• Wishin You Were Fishin (rental cabins; Owner: Rick Lockhart): Web site
• Waabaanakwad Art Gallery by Don Wright (Protection of the Lost, a doodle for Daniel, pictured): Website
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Daniel's official Web page on the Ontario Provincial Police's (OPP) Missing Persons & Unidentifed Bodies Unit Web site
Daniel's official Web page on Canada's Missing Web site, which is administered by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR)
Daniel's official Web page on Ontario's Missing Adults Web site
Daniel's official Web page on the Waterloo Regional Police Service's (WRPS) missing-person Web site
Daniel's official Web page on the North American Missing Persons Network (NAMPN)
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Report info
• Toll-Free: 1-888-310-1122
• 1-519-650-8500
Contact the Trask Family
• E-mail Daniel's parents, Don and Maureen
Tiplines
• Toll-Free Tipline: 1-877-934-6363
• Direct-Dial Tipline: 1-705-330-4144
• Internet E-Tips: E-mail No. 1 or E-mail No. 2
Crime Stoppers
• Anonymous Toll-Free Tipline: 1-800-222-TIPS (8477)
• Anonymous Internet E-Tips: www.TipSubmit.com
Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR)
• Submit e-mail to RCMP's Canada's Missing Web Site
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Highway Map
Official Road Map of Ontario 2012/2013, free
from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism at 1-800-668-2746
Topographic Quadrangles
1:80,000 Temagami 1 Northeast Map available from Chrismar Mapping Services, Inc., in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada
1:50,000 Canadian Topographic Quadrangles for the Diamond Lake SAR area are available from Federal Maps in Toronto, Canada:
• Lady Evelyn Lake 41-P/8 (2009, Edition 4) digital copy
• Obabika Lake 41-P/1 (2009, Edition 4) digital copy
A custom 1:20,000 Ontario Base Map (OMB) quadrangle has been prepared for MibSAR's field operations by Federal Maps in Toronto, Canada:
• "Diamond Lake SAR Operation" (This custom MibSAR map is available from Federal Maps under the file name of Michael Neiger)
Other Quadrangles
Temagami Adventure Planning Map from Friends of Temagami, in Temagami, Ontario
Circa-1900 Map of Temagami, Temagami Nastawgan
Nastawgan Explained, by Craig Macdonald
Magnetic Declination Beta
• Meridian of Longitude Line Magnetic Declination: 11° 8'
• UTM Easting Grid Line Declination: 11° 41'High-res Triple North Compass Rose
Global Positioning System (GPS) Configuration
• Coordinate System: 1,000-meter Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Grid
• UTM Zone: 17
• Horizontal Map Datum: North American Datum (NAD) of 1983
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Latchford, Ontario (22 miles to NE)
The Weather Network 14-day weather forecast for Temagami Area
The Weather Channel 10-day weather forecast for Temagami area
Accu Weather 30-day weather forecast for Temagami area
North Bay, Ontario (75 miles to SE)
Environment Canada 7-day weather forecast for Temagami area
Weather For You 14-day weather forecast for Temagami area
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Next Search by Michigan Backcountry Search & Rescue (MibSAR): May 21-31, 2015
Team MibSAR’s next operation in support of the Trask Family and the OPP's investigation into the disappearance of Daniel Trask is scheduled for May 21-31, 2015.
This operation will involve an extensive search of east shore of the southern reaches of Lady Evelyn Lake and the northern reaches of the North Arm of Diamond Lake. Additional searches for habitable caves in the Diamond Lake area will also be conducted.
Next Search by Michigan Backcountry Search & Rescue (MibSAR): August 29 to September 7, 2014
(Canelled due to Team MibSAR member's illness; rescheduled for Spring 2015)
May 23 to June 1, 2014 SAR Operation conducted by Michigan Backcountry Search & Rescue (MibSAR)
Team MibSAR's Long-Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG) volunteers Dave Goodyear, Todd Theoret, Cathy Susan, and Michael Neiger walked and searched a large stretch of the west shore of Lady Evelyn Lake. They also worked a lot of bush between Lady Evelyn Lake and Williow Island Lake in search of large habitable caves Daniel had spoken of.
While no sign of Daniel was located, numerous wilderness caves were located and searched.
• Videos: 1
May 20, 2014—Updated 2014 Missing-Person poster released by Maureen Trask
To download and print poster, click here.
May 20, 2014—Updated map showing evidence found to date released by Maureen Trask
A 2-year Tribute to Daniel from his parents, Maureen and Don
Source: OtterTooth Forum Post
Evidence scatter as of September 22, 2013
September 13-22, 2013 SAR Operation conducted by Michigan Backcountry Search & Rescue (MibSAR)
In addition to finding a petroglyph (inscription) in a massive, monument-like rock situated in a marsh between where Dan’s winter clothing and backpack/snowshoes were found, the team also located and charted 8 trees near his winter clothing that he may have chopped with a hatchet or bowie knife.
• Spec Ops Blog after-op post• OtterTooth Forum search update post
August 9-18, 2013 SAR Operation conducted by Michigan Backcountry Search & Rescue (MibSAR)
The evidence was situated in a marshy area at the south end of the Northeast Arm of Diamond Lake, about 5 kms SSE of the OPP's improvised heli pad and SAR base, which is located adjacent to where some of Dan's clothing was found and recovered in May of 2012. (Photo courtesy of Cathy Susan)
• Spec Ops Blog after-op post
• The Nugget (North Bay, Ontario) newspaper article
• OtterTooth Forum search update post
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Report errors or inaccuracies on this Web page to Michael Neiger
Web site short URL: www.DanielTrask.ca
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