Cathy Teeft handles Rifle, a four-year-old German Shepherd and certified police dog, as they search a large ravine area in Melanson, Kings County, Nova Scotia on May 23.Carolina Andrade/The Globe and Mail
RCMP and a team of experts assembled Friday at a remote wooded area near Wolfville, N.S., to co-ordinate a search in connection with an Acadia University student who mysteriously disappeared more than 30 years ago. Kenley Matheson went missing a few weeks after starting his first year of university in September, 1992, and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
This spring, The Globe and Mail commissioned a two-day search by an International Police Work Dog Association certified dog and his handlers, Cathy and Doug Teeft. Their dog, a four-year-old German shepherd named Rifle, is trained to track cadaver scents. On May 24, under the guidance of his handlers, Rifle “indicated” or showed an expression of interest, a clue that could be a sign of human remains nearby, said Mr. Teeft, a member of the Nova Scotia K9 Rescue Team, a local ground search and rescue group, who volunteered to search the area upon request from The Globe.
The search was also attended by Ron Lamothe whose docuseries, Missing Kenley, includes interviews from witnesses who pinpointed the area as a location where Mr. Matheson’s remains might be found.
After Mr. Teeft wrote his report, The Globe shared it with RCMP Corporal Benjamin Kershaw and alerted the force’s commissioner, Mike Duheme, in Ottawa.
The area where Rifle showed interest for human remains is on a steep embankment near a ravine that locals refer to as the “bear caves.”
Along with Mr. Teeft, the Mounties’ Southwest Nova Major Crime Unit, and members from Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service Office, St. Thomas University’s anthropology department and Acadia University’s earth and environmental science department visited the site on Melanson Mountain near Wolfville on Friday.
“Based on the information obtained, the RCMP and our partners are making plans with regard to the best and most effective way to process the site both thoroughly and safely,” RCMP Corporal Chris Marshall said in a press release.
This week, the RCMP sent some members of the public a letter, signed by Nova Scotia RCMP Commanding Officer Dennis Daley, saying police were planning to complete a search of the area as soon as possible. “Our goal is to bring Kenley home to his family,” he wrote.
Mr. Matheson’s relatives are encouraged by the new information. “The ultimate goal for me is just to be able to find Kenley’s remains and put him to rest,” Mr. Matheson’s sister, Kayrene Matheson, said in an interview. “We’re just very, very hopeful that he will be found.”
Ms. Matheson recently launched the Bring Kenley Home mission, a walking challenge to raise awareness about the memory of her beloved brother.
RCMP have said that during Mr. Matheson’s first two weeks of university, the 20-year-old travelled with friends to Corkums Island in Lunenburg County for the weekend. He returned to Acadia and attended a campus party on Sept. 18, 1992, where he was seen by his sister and others at Crowell Tower on Sept. 20.
Mr. Matheson was last spotted by a friend walking on Main Street in Wolfville the next day, wearing blue jeans, a purple T-shirt, a red-and-black backpack and a ball cap. He has not been in contact with family or friends and there has been no activity on his bank account since.
RCMP have classified Mr. Matheson as a missing person, though in 2012 his case was added to a provincial reward program for major unsolved crimes that offers up to $150,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.