In 1989, my cousin Duncan MacPherson went missing. As a 9-year-old, I was almost oblivious to the event and my only clear recollection of it is when my aunt and uncle spent some time at our house during what I’m assuming was their journey to Austria to look for their missing son.
As I grew up, the story of my missing cousin was just a part of life. My aunt and uncle spent numerous summers searching for him and my father once visited a psychic for some sort of lead. I only had a few wispy memories of Duncan and as time went on him being missing was just the way things were in my mind.
In 2003, Duncan’s body was discovered on a glacier on a ski hill. I thought that my family would finally have some closure now that he was found and his fate detrmined. Now, though, there is concern that he did not die as the result of an accident but rather as the result of being run over by machinery grooming the hill. It’s a gruesome and horrible thing to imagine.
The Fifth Estate recently aired this story (which can be seen here) . There is a link in the sidebar on the right to see the full broadcast.
Tonight as I watched this entire story summed up in a 40-minute broadcast I saw things in a new light. Now that I am a mother, I can look at the pain in my aunt’s face and get an inkling of what my life would be like should my son go missing. I had never before seen pictures of Duncan’s body or the CAT scan taken of his remains, and seeing these things finally made this tragedy real to me.
It’s heartbreaking to think of the countless hours of fear, worry, and desperation my aunt and uncle suffered through. You’ll have to excuse me if I hold my kids extra close tonight.
