Remains identified in 44-year-old cold case, York Region police appeal for public's help

York Regional Police say they have identified human remains more than four decades after they were found in Markham, and investigators are appealing for the public's help in a case of suspected foul play.

In a news release Friday, York police detailed the lengthy process that finally allowed them to identify the remains of William Joseph Pennell, 26, from Toronto. 

Pennell's body was found on the side of the 11th Concession, between 14th and Steeles avenues, on July 16, 1980, about a month after he had escaped from a Kingston prison where he was serving time for a robbery conviction.

While initial forensic testing suggested the remains belonged to a white man between 25 and 40 years old, the advanced state of decomposition meant no positive identification could be made at the time. A cause of death was never determined, but police suspected foul play.

Cold case investigators exhumed the remains in 2007 to do a facial reconstruction and extract DNA, which was then uploaded to the national DNA database, York police said. There were no immediate positive matches, however.

Then, in 2021, police turned to investigative genetic genealogy, a technique that combines DNA analysis with the study of family trees, in a renewed effort to identify the remains. In the last several years, genetic geneology has helped police solve some of Canada's most intractable cold cases, including notorious slayings in Toronto and surrounding regions.

Investigators eventually found relatives of the deceased individual, and in April 2023, the remains were identified as Pennell, York police said.

Pennell was arrested and charged in June 1979 with attempted murder and armed robbery. He told police at the time at least two other people were involved in the alleged crimes but refused to provide any further information, saying he feared for his life. 

He was convicted of robbery in April 1980 and remained in prison. Two months later, however, Pennell escaped, though police don't know how. According to York police, Pennell told a friend he intended to flee to South America "in what is believed to be his last contact before his death."

Investigators are now trying to find more "friends and associates" to put together a timeline between Pennell's prison escape and his death. 

"They are hoping the public's assistance can help solve this decades-old cold case," York police said in the release.

Anyone with information that could be useful to investigators is asked to contact the York police cold case unit.