Duncan MacPherson

Duncan MacPherson
Duncan Alvin MacPherson (February 3, 1966 – August 9, 1989) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who died under mysterious circumstances during a ski trip in Austria.
Early life and career
MacPherson was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A standout defensive defenceman for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League, he was drafted in the first round, 20th overall, of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. He played minor league hockey for the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League and the Indianapolis Ice of the International Hockey League.
Disappearance
In the summer of 1989, MacPherson went to Europe. The New York Islanders had bought out and released the often injured MacPherson, who never made it to the NHL. MacPherson had intentions of taking a job as a player-coach for a semi-pro hockey team in Dundee, Scotland, commencing in August 1989. Despite having a bad feeling about the entrepreneur Ron Dixon who was backing the Scottish team, he travelled to central Europe alone in early August 1989. The plan was to visit old friends and see the sights before going on to Scotland.
He was scheduled to arrive in Dundee on August 12. When he did not show up, his family went to look for him. A car he had borrowed from a friend was discovered six weeks later in the parking lot of the Stubaital ski-region resort at the foot of the Stubai Glaciers in the Stubai Alps in Austria, where he had rented a snowboard. His last known contact was with an employee of the ski resort on August 9, who reported that he spoke with MacPherson, and last saw MacPherson departing alone to perhaps squeeze in some final snowboarding and hiking before nightfall.
Adding drama to the mystery was the fact that MacPherson claimed he had been contacted by the CIA, and that they were interested in recruiting him as a spy. The story was never confirmed.
In 2003, 14 years after MacPherson disappeared, an employee of the Stubai Glacier Resort discovered a glove sticking out of the ice of the melting Schaufelferner Glacier (one of the Stubai Glaciers' arms), in the middle of the ski run, where MacPherson's body had lain frozen.
Theories
According to John Leake, author of ‘Cold A Long Time: An Alpine Mystery’, MacPherson’s body was found to have suffered significant trauma, including amputation of arms, hands and legs. The damage is consistent with rotating machinery; his snowboard also had a uniform pattern of damage and was cut apart, which indicates that it too had gone through a machine. Leake’s conclusion was that MacPherson had a snowboard accident and injured his leg, and was laying on the slope waiting for rescue. During that very foggy day, a snowcat driver didn't see MacPherson and ran him over by accident, killing him. Instead of reporting it, that driver (or his supervisor) buried MacPherson in the shallow crevasse. His body stayed hidden there for fourteen years, until the glacier melted enough for it to be seen.
Career statistics
See also
List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career
References
Further reading
Website and Book by John Leake, published in 2012
An update to the 2006 CBC story above by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Article from Esquire magazine, published in 2004
Story of his disappearance
Detailed chronology of events
In German language:
"Auf dünnem Eis" (On thin ice), story written by Florian Skrabal for Austrian magazine Datum – Seiten der Zeit, published 1 September 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2012
"Eisiges Schweigen" (Icy silentness), story by Malte Herwig for Bavarian newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, published 5 October 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012
External links
1966 births
1989 deaths
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Indianapolis Ice players
National Hockey League first-round draft picks
New York Islanders draft picks
Saskatoon Blades players
Ice hockey people from Saskatoon
Springfield Indians players
Canadian ice hockey defencemen
Category:1989 missing person cases
Category:unsolved deaths in austria