Foul play ruled out in police officer’s death

OPP News Release

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COCHRANE – The Ontario Provincial Police have completed their investigation into the death of Wilfred CHUM, a Constable with the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service (NAPS) and have determined that foul play was not involved.

Constable CHUM, a 58 year-old Cochrane resident went missing on June 18, 2009 after a boat that he and a local Peawanuck community member were in, capsized on the Winisk River near Peawanuck, Ontario. The boat capsized when the two men experienced difficulties while on the water. Wilfred Chum did not make it to shore.

On July 9, 2009 CHUM’s body was located by members of the Moose Factory Search and Rescue on the tidal flats of Hudson Bay, approximately 15 kilometres east of the mouth of the Winisk River.

A search for Constable CHUM was immediately initiated on June 18, 2009 and involved the Moose Factory Search and Rescue, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre - Trenton Search and Rescue, the Canadian Rangers, the OPP and community members. The OPP Underwater Search and Recovery Unit and Emergency Response Team also traveled to the community on two separate occasions to assist in the search and worked with the other search teams in an effort to locate Constable CHUM.

An autopsy was conducted in Sudbury on July 10, 2009.

The investigation was conducted by members of the Cochrane OPP Detachment Crime Unit and the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service Crime Unit under the direction of A/ Detective Inspector Shawn Glassford of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch.

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