Duncan MacPherson

For the Canadian editorial cartoonist, see Duncan Macpherson.

Duncan MacPherson
A passport photograph of MacPherson, taken a few weeks before his death
Born	(1966-02-03)February 3, 1966 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died	August 9, 1989(1989-08-09) (aged 23) Stubai Glacier Resort, Austria
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position	Defenceman
Shot	Left
Played for	Springfield Indians Indianapolis Ice
NHL draft	20th overall, 1984 New York Islanders
Playing career	1986–1989

Duncan Alvin MacPherson (February 3, 1966 – August 9, 1989) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. In 1989, he went on a trip to Austria, and then disappeared. Searches proved fruitless, until in 2003 when his body was found in a melting glacier. His death remains officially unsolved.

Early life and career

MacPherson was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A standout 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. 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.

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 lying on the slope waiting for rescue. During that very foggy day, a snowcat driver did not 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

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1982–83	Battleford Barons	SJHL		59	6	11	17	215		—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		5	2	4	6	16		2	0	0	0	0
1983–84	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		45	0	14	14	74		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		69	9	26	35	116		3	0	0	0	4
1985–86	Saskatoon Blades	WHL		70	10	54	64	147		13	3	8	11	38
1986–87	Springfield Indians	AHL		26	1	0	1	86		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Springfield Indians	AHL		74	5	14	19	213		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Springfield Indians	AHL		24	1	5	6	69		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Indianapolis Ice	IHL		33	1	4	5	23		—	—	—	—	—
WHL totals				189	21	98	119	353		18	3	8	11	42
AHL totals				124	7	19	26	368		—	—	—	—	—

See also

• List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career

Further reading

• Website and Book by John Leake, published in 2012
• The CBC program The Fifth Estate has done episodes on this story, the first in 2006 and another in 2011.
• 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

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database