Creepy... --- with update

[jalola]

So, not only do I like to lead walking tours, but I love to go on walking tours. When the local organizations that lead free walks or hikes come out with their schedules for the summer, I'm all over them planning what to go on.

July 17 was circled for an evening walk around part of the Toronto Islands with a retired teacher who's taken it upon himself to become archivist of both his swanky neighborhood in town and his cottage neighborhood on the island.  I'd been on a walk with him around his city neighborhood and seen him at several local historical society meetings.  I knew what he had to say would be interesting and I wanted to go.

I rearranged my schedule and moved an appointment so I could go.

Three days before the walk, a friend told me they'd heard the leader had been arrested. Seems he had also become head of the "neighborhood watch" for his swanky neighborhood and was very strict about parking rules. So when  young family moved onto the street and couldn't fit their cars in the drive, they began parking in the street and this man had been slashing their tires every week or two for 18 months. The victims assumed  the culprit was  a teenager on the street and accused  his family.  The kid's family , to prove their son innocent, hired a detective who -- lo and behold -- caught the older man on tape slashing the tires.

Even though the arrest happened in May, the news didn't break till right before the hike I'd been looking for. One of the news reports quoted his wife saying he was now in hospital.

Surprisingly, the organizers of the hike never canceled it, but on the day, I figured it was off and went shopping.

Turns out there was more drama.

On the day that he was to lead the walk, the archivist/alleged tire slasher went off in his car, abandoned it by the harbor, and HASN'T BEEN SEEN SINCE. That's 13 days ago!

I didn't hear about that till today, because it didn't really make the news till now. The police were out dragging the lake to see if his body would turn up.


And you all thought walking tours were a pretty boring hobby!


UPDATE: July 31. The police pulled a male body from the lake today right near where the walk leader/archivist/alleged tire slasher's car was found.

UPDATE #2: An autopsy confirmed it was him.

Comments

[jendeana.livejournal.com]

Quite creepy and interesting indeed! Let us know the outcome if you ever find out yourself.

[jalola.livejournal.com]

I will.

[ic789.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised but people do some strange stuff. I think that guy's over concern for how his neighborhood should be is one reason why I'll never live in a 'community' of any sort-too many rules and regulations for me. Breaking the law to prove your point tends to invite more trouble.

So does this open a door for you to lead that tour?

[jalola.livejournal.com]

Oh, I suppose, in a sort of ambulance-chasing way. The historian in me is wondering what will become of his historical files.

[cgrgrl.livejournal.com]

I have issues with home owners associations. Really, I bought this land, I can do whatever the hell I want with it. I moved in here because we didn't have one. At this point if we ever did start one, I would be the vice-president because of longevity. They thought about it when we had the drug people here, but I faught against it. I'm a single mom who works and I have a bad ankle. I can't be messing around with making sure my house is perfect. I don't have the time or the health. It's passable, but not beautiful.

[jalola.livejournal.com]

The neighborhood is over 100 years old and was set up as an exclusive rules-heavy place. It was set up by a bunch of artists who had tried to set up a previous place in the city only to have a bunch of developers come in and wreck the place.

It looks like cottages in the woods rather than like an urban neighborhood.

Thing is, this guy just went too far in enforcing rules. It went to his head.

[cgrgrl.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the guy just took off to avoid a jail term if any. Or, perhaps the family that was accused tried to get even because of the trouble they went through. Or, maybe it was the young couple with the tires because they looked like idiots constantly blaming somebody who turned out to be innocent.

[jalola.livejournal.com]

All the clues released by the police point to him either running off into hiding or committing suicide. He left a note in his abandoned car and his family says he was depressed. Foul play hasn't been mentioned at all.