Prince Edward Island Man Pleads Not Guilty To The Murder Of Byron Carr

Read The File
Unsupported Browser! This website will offer limited functionality in this browser. We only support the recent versions of major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.
UCF #104200226

James Brady and Absolom Halkett: The Prospectors Who Vanished


James Brady and Absolom Halkett
COLD CASE

James Brady and Absolom Halkett

La Ronge, Saskatchewan — In June 1967, 59-year-old Métis leader James Brady and 40-year-old Cree band councillor Absolom Halkett boarded a tiny plane and departed the small Saskatchewan town of La Ronge. From there, they flew north to a remote lake on a trip to prospect for uranium.

James Brady was born in the province of Alberta on March 18, 1930. His mother was Métis and his father was Scottish. Brady grew up in a family of seven. His parents owned a farm in southern Alberta. Brady attended St. Mary's College in Calgary. He went to medical school at the University of Toronto. After finishing his education, he worked as a doctor for a while. He eventually became a professor of medicine. Brady decided that he wanted to study anthropology. He had been interested in studying Native Americans for a long time. Brady believed that if he studied these people, he could learn something about himself. He began studying the Cree people in northern Canada.

It was a cold winter day in La Ronge. While flying across northern Manitoba, as the two men sat in the plane, they looked out at the beautiful scenery. The ground below them was covered with thick white snow, and the sky was a dark blue. Brady and Halkett realized they were lost. They were in a plane that was designed to carry four people, but only had room for two. So they decided to share the seat with another passenger. When they landed on the lake, they found themselves in a canoe, and they continued their journey on foot.

The only way to get out of the wilderness was to cross the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield also called the Laurentian Plateau. For three weeks, they lived in a tent while they tried to locate a safe spot to build a shelter. They survived on wild berries and moose meat. They crossed the lake every day. They took turns sleeping in the tent.

By the time another plane arrived to restock their camp about a week later, the men were gone. The RCMP investigated, but neither the men nor their bodies were found. Police quickly ruled out foul play and closed the case within weeks. The best guesses to come out of the investigation: the men had gotten lost or been eaten by a bear.

To those who knew Brady and Halkett, however, those weren't plausible explanations. Both were experienced bushmen; they wouldn't just vanish. And why had the investigation wrapped up so quickly?

In the past few years, the bodies of what appears to be the two men were discovered. An American tourist and fishing guide found a waterlogged corpse with its wrists tied in the water where the men had been prospecting.

In a recent book, Cold Case North, author Deanna Reder writes that her mother, who knew the men, said they were taken by a UFO - to her it seemed more logical than any of the other theories. Others suspected the men's deaths were no accident, but assassinations. Brady specifically was an ardent communist who challenged the Canadian government and the church, advocating for First Nations' self-governance; back then, it was enough for the RCMP to surveil a person. Some even suspected they found a uranium site and were killed by business partners who wanted it for themselves.

If you are wondering why the authorities closed the case so quickly, there are many mysteries that exist in this world. Some of them are solved very quickly while others never are.

Brenton Melquist

Brenton Melquist

See more Case Files contributed by Brenton Melquist.

Update This Story

2 + 2 = ?
Victoria Joanne Crow Shoe
FEATURE
Victoria Crow Shoe

Victoria (Vickie) Joanne Crow Shoe's body was found on shores of Oldman River Reservoir. Her body was bound by a rope before she was put in the...

With Red Deer, there is sizeable amount of crazy stuff that happens here still, but as with Calgary, most of it is still localized to a radius around downtown and the hospital area. Despite Red Deer's higher crime rate, I would still say I feel safer here.

Make a donation
We Need Your Support!

Our work goes beyond data collection and is independent from Government and Institutional funding. Your support is critical in making this possible. Thank You!

Murders In Windsor
POPULAR
Murders In Windsor

The 1980 murder of Kirk Knight; the 1982 murder of 31-year-old Marlene Sweet and her 7-year-old son Jason; the 2003 killings of 30-year-old Debilleanne "Dee Dee" Williamson and her son 5-year-old Brandon "Xavier" Rucker.
Windsor, Ontario

Subscribe

Do not miss a story!

Get notified for new unsolved cases


Please, if you are not receiving our mails in your Inbox, it is worth checking in your Spam or Junk mail folder. Unsubscribe at any time. Privacy Policy

News

New technology solves mystery of late First World War soldier's flower sent home to Canada

In 1916, Harold Wrong plucked a flower from the fields of Somme, France and tucked it into a letter he mailed home to Toronto. For decades, the type of flower sent remained a mystery.

Quebec man acquitted of two first-degree murders 46 years later

Claude Paquin was found guilty on two charges of first-degree murder in 1983. Now 81 years old, he's finally free after being acquitted.