It’s been a rough 12 months, says John Shawinimash.
A year ago, in the early morning hours of Sept. 3, 2014, the body of his son, 32-year-old Will Wapoose, was found by a passerby at Chapples Park. Police have yet to make an arrest in the case.
His grieving father wants closure.
“From here, I just want to encourage anybody that’s listening. It’s been one year,” Shawinimash said in a four minute, fighting back tears in Thunder Bay Police video, released on Thursday to coincide with the anniversary of his son’s death.
“If you have any information regarding why, what happened, and who done it, I just encourage you to come forward.
“The police are here to help. They’ve been a big help to myself and (my) family. I’m sure there’s lots of information in the community in Thunder Bay. A lot of people here know a lot of things. So I just ask for your help.”
Though soft-spoken, Shawinimash has fond memories of his son.
“He loved life. He enjoyed his friends,” he said.
“He had two girls. He most enjoyed being with them. That’s when he was happiest.”
While police made arrests or closed the city’s other 10 murders in 2014, this one has investigators baffled.
The initial investigation did provide plenty of preliminary information, but not enough to lead to an arrest, let alone a conviction.
Police won’t say if they have a suspect or suspects on their radar, but the lead investigator said he hopes a year after the fact someone is willing to come forward with new information.
Det. Shawn Harrison, who said one look at the body was enough to convince them foul play had taken place, is hopeful someone saw something.
“The time of year that this happened, it was fairly mild, almost unseasonably warm. And we know it was a mild evening, just prior to Will’s death,” Harrison said in the video.
“This whole area is a thoroughfare for people, pedestrian traffic, to go from a residential area to the downtown south core. There are people, that we know, that were out and about on both sides of this area. This area is fairly isolated, but we know people were out in the residential area and we know people were out in the south core.”
Harrison said he understands it’s difficult for people to come forward to police with information, especially on a serious crime.
But the family deserves answers, he said.
“It’s never too late to do the right thing,” Harrison said.
That’s all Shawinimash wants.
“I miss him terribly,” he said.
Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to call either Thunder Bay Police or Crime Stoppers.
