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Mill · 07-23-2003, 08:31 AM

The body of a Canadian hockey player, whose family searched for him for months after his sudden disappearance in Austria almost 14 years ago, has been found frozen in the Alps.

Duncan MacPherson, a National Hockey League first-round draft pick in 1984, was last seen on Aug. 9, 1989, while snowboarding on the Stubaier Glacier in the south Tyrol.

The body was discovered late last week by an employee operating a snow-grooming machine at a summer ski resort in Neustift, which is about 40 kilometres southwest of Innsbruck.

"At 3,000 metres, the body would be pretty well frozen the whole time. His identification was in his pocket," Lynda MacPherson said. MacPherson, from Saskatoon, was 23 when he disappeared while on his way to take a job as a coach with a hockey team in Dundee, Scotland.

He was a young defenceman playing junior hockey with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League when he was drafted 20th overall by the New York Islanders in 1984. He finished up with the Blades in 1986 and played three pro seasons with the American Hockey League, but never made a career in the NHL.

After his contract with the Islanders expired in 1989, he accepted an offer to become a player-coach for the Scottish Dundee Tigers.

For 14 years, the MacPhersons suspected their son had fallen into a crevasse, but search crews yielded nothing.

07-23-2003, 08:31 AM	#1 (permalink)
Mill Psycho Location: Center of the Universe	Found after 14 years The body of a Canadian hockey player, whose family searched for him for months after his sudden disappearance in Austria almost 14 years ago, has been found frozen in the Alps. Duncan MacPherson, a National Hockey League first-round draft pick in 1984, was last seen on Aug. 9, 1989, while snowboarding on the Stubaier Glacier in the south Tyrol. The body was discovered late last week by an employee operating a snow-grooming machine at a summer ski resort in Neustift, which is about 40 kilometres southwest of Innsbruck. "At 3,000 metres, the body would be pretty well frozen the whole time. His identification was in his pocket," Lynda MacPherson said. MacPherson, from Saskatoon, was 23 when he disappeared while on his way to take a job as a coach with a hockey team in Dundee, Scotland. He was a young defenceman playing junior hockey with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League when he was drafted 20th overall by the New York Islanders in 1984. He finished up with the Blades in 1986 and played three pro seasons with the American Hockey League, but never made a career in the NHL. After his contract with the Islanders expired in 1989, he accepted an offer to become a player-coach for the Scottish Dundee Tigers. For 14 years, the MacPhersons suspected their son had fallen into a crevasse, but search crews yielded nothing.