Bennie Dunsmoor just wants to bring his dad home.
The Innisfil resident and well-known operator of the Gilford Haunted Mansion: Spirits of the Barn attraction has been trying to piece together a mystery half a country away for the past two months. At the heart of it is his father, Brad, whose remains were found in his charred truck in a community near Halifax, N.S., in January.
Within days of getting a call from police about the incident, Bennie and his family travelled to the East Coast to fill out paperwork, start the process of dealing with Brad’s estate, and check out the area where the vehicle was discovered.
“The truck was burnt out when it was found. Nobody saw it; nobody knew it,” Bennie said between sips from a Tim Hortons coffee cup, offering a theory the vehicle had been there for several days before it was reported. “It was down a dirt service road. You can’t tell me that’s not a suspicious location.”
Since the investigation is still underway, it could be months before Brad’s remains are released to the family, Bennie claims.
“Still nothing,” he said. “It’s a snail’s pace with those guys. It’s ridiculous.”
RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment confirmed in an email to InnisfilToday that it responded Jan. 8 to a report of a vehicle containing possible human remains. Officers attended the scene near the 24000 block of Highway 7, in the rural community of Watt Section, N.S., and have since identified the remains as those of a 63-year-old man.
However, in the case of sudden death, the name of a deceased person is protected under the Privacy Act; it will only be released in certain circumstances — for example, to further an investigation, noted Cpl. Guillaume Tremblay, a public information officer with the RCMP.
“Investigators continue to gather information and evidence to determine the circumstances surrounding the man’s death, including whether or not it’s suspicious,” Tremblay said. “Our thoughts are with the man’s loved ones at this difficult time.”
The investigation is being led by the Special Investigations Section of the Integrated Criminal Investigation Division — which consists of Halifax Regional Police and RCMP officers and civilian employees — with assistance from the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service, RCMP Forensic Identification Services and RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment.
However, Tremblay concedes it’s unclear when Brad’s family will take possession of his remains.
“Each investigation is unique in nature and investigative avenues differ in timeline at times,” Tremblay said. “In terms of when it would wrap up, I don’t have information at this time to provide any type of estimate. It would be a guess at best. In relation to sudden deaths and remains being released, this would be handled by the medical examiner service.”
InnisfilToday contacted a representative of the medical examiner service for comment, and was told further information will be shared with Brad's next of kin.
"Therefore I won’t be able to provide further comment regarding your questions," communications director Denise Corra said. "Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased at this difficult time."
Bennie describes his father as the kind of guy who never sought out the spotlight, though it somehow always made its way to him. Brad coached in the Toronto area for years. Then, when the family moved north to Innisfil about two decades ago, he began volunteering on the local sports scene, showing a distinct passion for teaching kids the fundamentals of baseball and soccer, and trying to grow the games here.
“My dad’s always been a confident man,” Bennie said. “He was a family man. From the time I was eight years old, he was the coach. He never looked back from that. He just likes the sports and seeing the kids having a good time. He'd be putting his own money into it, renting the Nantyr (Shores Secondary School) gym for practice. He'd always make sure the diamonds had chalk and bases. If you needed something done, you called him.”
Brad had three children, two stepkids, and seven grandchildren.
“Sensitive” to the needs of most young players, Bennie joked that didn’t always extend to his own children.
“We didn’t get that,” Bennie said, laughing. “He was always like that. I had his first grandson and he got him into (baseball). He kept on it. Baseball was something we all excelled at.”
Brad worked as a drywaller for much of his life. But he always had a goal of retiring and moving out east to a home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Two years ago, he made it happen, relocating with his girlfriend.
“He was fantastic at his craft,” Bennie said.
Brad also loved collecting Star Wars memorabilia, and once had a Darth Vader helmet signed by renowned voice actor James Earl Jones.
And he was a big supporter of the haunted mansion.
“(Dad) thought the haunted house was a great idea,” Bennie said. “He absolutely loved what I was doing, that we were getting involved in the community.”
To help cover lost income from time off work, as well as the cost of travel, legal fees and the funeral, the Dunsmoor family has started a GoFundMe page.
“As you can imagine, this is very stressful all around with not knowing what is going on and how long things are going to take,” the family said in its post.
Bennie misses his dad, and has been coping and busying himself by tinkering on the haunted mansion, which he opened for part of the March break.
“My son’s graduating this year and (Dad) doesn’t get to see it happen,” he said. “It’s been a hard go. We can’t reach out to him anymore. He was the best. He was always pushing people to do better. He wasn’t just good enough with being good enough.”
The fundraising page can be found at gofundme.com.
