Body found near Schomberg in 1968 has been identified

OPP have put a name to a body found near Schomberg almost 40 years ago.

Police credited information they received last month to conclude the remains were those of 17- year-old Richard “Dickie” Hovey, of Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Hovey’s skeleton was found May 15, 1968, lying against a wire fence in a hedgerow on the 17th Sideroad of New Tecumseth by Laurent Trudeau of Main Street in Schomberg, while he was plowing a field. He had thrown a can of oil off to the side while plowing and when he went over to retrieve it, he spotted the body, according to OPP reports at the time.

Information from police indicate there were no clothes found on or near the body. It appeared to be lying on its left side, with the arms behind the back. A white shoelace was wrapped twice around one wrist and knotted, and it appeared both wrists might have been tied together.

Hovey had moved to Toronto in 1966 or ‘67, and was reportedly a musician in

clubs in the Yorkville area. He disappeared sometime in the late spring or early summer of ‘67.

OPP announced last month they were reactivating this case, along with that involving remains found in December 1967 by a partridge hunter in Balsam Lake Provincial Park near Coboconk, east of Lake Simcoe. They were also able to provide facial reconstructions of the two victims, which they said led to tips from the public, including people who believed one of them resembled a young man they knew from Fredericton.

The Centre of Forensic Sciences was able to make DNA comparisons of samples provided by Hovey’s family, resulting in the identification.

There is no information on the cause of death, owing to the condition of the body, but police believe it was a murder.

The deaths of two young men were linked by new information to violent attacks that were taking place at the time in the homosexual community of

Toronto. Two cases at the time had been resolved and police said in November they could be directly linked to these cases. Serious attacks during the same period were taking place on young men in the Church and Wellesley area of the city.

Police are still investigating the case, and are appealing for help from anyone who could assist in tracing Hovey’s movements during his time in Toronto.

They also made the following statement, issued on behalf of the Hovey family: “We are very relieved to be able to bring our brother home after years of anguish. We loved him dearly. We wish to thank the Ontario Provincial Police for their hard work and thoughtfulness. The family does not wish to make further public statement and would appreciate it if their privacy could be respected in this time of grief.”

Rewards of $50,000 each are being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for both of these murders.