KAGAWONG—The mysterious disappearance and possible murder of Kagawong’s Stanley Richards will be the focus of a presentation by OPP Detective Constable Patty Smith and Community Services Officer Al Boyd during the annual Old Mill Heritage Centre’s annual History Night at the Kagawong Park Centre.
Museum curator Rick Nelson will also air a four-minute film clip from an expedition of cold case investigators to the site of Mr. Richard’s cabin led by Stan Gordon.
The presentation by the police officers will highlight the progress being made in the case. “I am not telling,” laughed Mr. Nelson when asked if all will be revealed a lá Perot. “Actually, I am anxious to hear what the developments in the case might have revealed.”
Claims that Mr. Richards met his end by misadventure after surprising hunters jacklighting deer have appeared in the past in the editorial letters page of the Manitoulin Expositor, but to date no fate for Mr. Richards has been revealed.
The evening will also feature a discussion on Loraine Dodge, the widow of one of the heirs to the Dodge family of automobile fames’ fortune focusing on her second husband. “He was the physician who did plastic surgery on Ms. Dodge,” explained Mr. Nelson. “It was a very unhappy marriage that ended in divorce. He wound up marrying a beauty queen.”
There will also be film footage and photographs of early Kagawong. “You will actually see people when the old mill was in operation,” said Mr. Nelson. Far from grainy images, these films are of remarkable clarity. “These were taken by people who could afford the best equipment,” he said.
Topping it all off, there will be excellent film footage of the wreck of the India, taken by a professional diver and underwater videographer.
The History Night takes place at 7:30 pm on August 14 at the Kagawong Park Centre, a perfect summer diversion for those who love the history, mystery and romance of Manitoulin Island.
