This page was first posted January 5th & 6th, 2005 and is presented for archival purposes only.
In an unusual case of making news instead of reporting it, the Toronto Star* published a list of missing and dead Canadians in their January 5, 2005 edition. Star editor-in-chief Giles Gherson said the newspaper printed the names as a matter of "overwhelming public interest." Similar lists have been published in Denmark, Norway and Finland, but many other countries are refusing to release lists of missing citizens because of privacy concerns. Sweden won't publish a list of the missing "because their vacant homes could be broken into."
In their January 6th edition, the Star reported that as a result of the publication of their list, 50 Canadians are confirmed as safe. The Star further reported that there are at least seven others -- not included on the federal lists -- who are missing in Thailand's tsunami zone.
The list, as first published, is reprinted here as a convenience to Last Link on the Left site visitors. The original list has been revised by this site to indicate, according to the Star, Canadians found safe. Below the list is the report published by the Star in their January 6, 2005 edition that explains the reconciliation of the list and issues arising from its publication.
* Free registration may be required.
The following text introduced the article as published January 5, 2005.
Seven Canadians are now listed as dead in the tsunami region, according to Foreign Affairs, with as many as 150 now missing. Here is a partial list of the dead, missing and injured Canadians.
It is by no means complete and has been compiled by the Star through a variety of sources, including Foreign Affairs, the Thai consul, wire stories, emails and phone interviews. It is current as of January 5, 2005. An asterisk * denotes Canadians found to be alive by the Star.
DEAD
Thailand
Bouchard, Gilles, 57, Gatineau, Quebec
Clark, Rebecca, 32, Annapolis Royal, N.S.
Lafond, Mathieu, 28, Montreal
Name removed see special announcement.
Sri Lanka
Kander, June Caroline, 74, Quebec City
MISSING
Thailand
Alarie, Patrick, 40
Allan, Child
Allan, Hee Jong
Allan, Richard
Ames, Nelson
Anderson, Craig
Anderson, Stuart
Ashford, Carujib
Baird, Duncan
Bevan, Robert Henry
Bitzer, Robert
Blair, Jeannie Ruth
Bojean, Kerrien
Buchinski family member
Buchinski, Wilson
Burgiak, Greg*
Camponi, Jordan*
Chafe, John
Charron-Duhamel, Oliver, 10
Cholokian, Sylva
Chon, Mathew Young
Chowt, Thomas
Claffey, David Harris
Cox, Nicole, 32
Drewes, Antonia/Toni Theodora, 32
Ducharme, Marielou
Dupont, Andre
Firth, Karen and Carrier, Bernie
Flank, Richard Martin*
Fraser, Derrick
Gervais, Michel*
Giannousopoulos, Tom*
Glass, Toni
Glicakis, Artemis
Gogalka, Katherine Isabel
Goudreault, Louise
Goulding, Bryan
Grosfield, Stephen A.*
Guerard, Robert
Guerard, Rose
Gurnett, Brian
Haine, Randan
Hanrahan, Patrick*
Hanrahan, Daintria*
Harder, Gregory
Harding, Matthew Tyler
Henderson, Paul
Hilker, Erin, 30*
Hoban, Will
Holland, Roy Calvin
Hollywood, Philip A.
Hrycay, Taissa
Jakola, Melissa*
James, Christie Lee
Jensen, John Paul
Johnson, William, 55*
Jung, Hwa, Kim Alexandra
Kassam, Moyez and family
Kearnes, Trevor
Kelly, Adrian
Kennedy, Richard Williams
Kentie, Katherine*
King, Thomas
Kloss, Matt and Billo, Craig
Knill, Jackie
Knill, John
Knox, Craig
Kwan, Cecilia Wai Sheung, 51
Kwan, Chun Tat, 53
Kwan, Shuntak, 54
Kwan, Wei Kang
Labery, Glen and Linda
LaFrance, Andre
Lai, Alan
Lecky, Rosy*
Lemay, Pierre Georges
Leong, Jane
Leung, Michelle
Levesque/Bishop, Robert
Liu, Joe
Liu, Geraldine
Livingston, Ron
Loewen, Jerry (Jarrod), 36
Lynch, Andrew*
Macdonald, Melanie
Maillot, Valerie, 36
Malatches, Nick, 52*
Man, Guida*
Mansour, Jeff
Marshall, Robert Reed, 47
Marshall, Nancy Shar
Martin, Adrien Chakrit
McDonnell, Tania
McWilliam, Reece Tyler, plus 3
Meehan, Laura
Melnyck, Kyle
Millar, Sandra, Blake and Mathew*
Molson, Allan Craig
Moncrieff-Maeda, Melonie and husband
Morey, Edward Jeffrey
Morris, Richard W
Myrglod, Todd Jamey
Nicola, Vincent
Perrier, Veronique
Podkoecik, Jaroslav and Reneta
Power, Robert Wayne*
Pucella, Getpino and Concepcion
Raciciot, Jean
Riley, Michael
Robinson and Misner*
Rochefort, Julie and Desmarais, Caroline
Roy, Elizabeth, Nicholas, Katherine
Sage, Iris, Larry, Graham, Brad, Evan*
Sharpe, Noel and Norma*
Shink, Gilles
Simone, Lauren Anne
Sinclair, Andre
Skulstav, Leif
Smith, Peter, 35
Smith, Don
Stanley, Bruce
Stein, Michael
Svastisalee (Salee) Dumri
Swalander, Patricia Marion
Swerdfeger, Owen
Thompson, Alan
Tremblay, Christian
Vezeau, Alain
Victor, Scott
Vilaire, Pierre
Wallace, Laley
Wallace, Rob
Wachmenko, Paul*
Wagner, Yan
Ward, Bryan and Shelley*
Warren, Terilynn*
Watson, Melanie
West, Tracy Lee
Wojtkun, Marcin*
Wong, Rubina
Zafran, Jade
Sri Lanka
Bast, Frank, 52, Calgary
Indonesia
Carstens, Darwin, Maple Ridge, B.C.
India
Heroux, Francois, 31, Trois Rivieres, Que.
The following is the Toronto Star article as published January 6, 2005.
A day after publishing leaked government lists of Canadians reported missing or dead in Thailand, the Star has found that 50 of them are, in fact, safe. But the Star has learned there are at least seven others - not included on the federal lists - who are missing in Thailand's tsunami zone.
Erin Hilker was named among the dead in the federal lists. She's very much alive, her uncle said yesterday. Hilker, 30, an English teacher in South Korea, had planned to spend the Christmas break in Phuket, said her uncle, Bruce Hilker, from Chauvin, Alta. But her flight didn't land until after the Dec. 26 disaster. "They landed there the day after," said Hilker. "She's lucky." The official report of Hilker's death is just one example of the confusion about just how many Canadians are missing or confirmed dead.
In the case of Ernst Piegsa, also named as dead on the federal lists, his son, Rudy, insisted he could not understand why his 85-year-old father was counted as a fatality. "Foreign Affairs still considers him missing," Piegsa told the Star after speaking with an federal official last night.
Despite the Star's publication yesterday of the most up-to-date federal information - as of Wednesday morning - Canadian officials said they will not publish their working lists of the missing and the dead.
Heidi Anderson said she was "a bit shocked" to see her brother's name on the list. Paul Wachmenko, 27, a resident of Whistler, B.C., was reported missing - but was safe in Thailand. Wachmenko had been in Thailand when the tsunami hit, but emailed his family almost immediately, telling them he was fine. "He said he was walking along the shoreline when a tidal wave hit, but he ran for safety and was okay," said Anderson. Anderson said she tried to inform federal officials that her brother was fine, but was turned away. "They didn't want that information," she said. "They said they were happy that he was okay," but they weren't taking information about people who had been found, only missing family members. Anderson was critical of the Star's decision to publish the "missing" list, suggesting it caused undue hardship for family members who thought her brother was safe, then read differently in the paper.
The Star received several phone calls and emails yesterday clarifying the whereabouts of 34 Canadians reported missing in the published list, which was compiled by federal bureaucrats from official sources. Over the weekend Star reporters confirmed through interviews with family and friends that several Canadians are considered missing in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia that were not on the list published yesterday. Some appear separately on this page.
For Toronto resident Nick Malatches, appearing on the list was something of a wake-up call. "I had no idea I was missing," said Malatches yesterday. "I hadn't been in Thailand since 2003 and I hadn't been in Phuket since 2000. I used to own a little beach bar in Phuket, but I sold it three years ago." "I'd call a priest for the last rites," said Malatches from his sick bed in Toronto, "but I guess I won't need them." The sommelier and bar manager got a call from his sister yesterday, who was relieved that the reports of his being missing in Thailand were greatly exaggerated. The 53-year-old, who has been sick with a bad head cold for the past few days and hadn't been answering his phone, was oblivious to the fact his friends had posted his name on a website. "What I understand is some friends tried to get through to me and couldn't, so they put me on the Internet," he said. "I was working on Christmas Day and I don't have an answering machine any more. I worked New Year's Eve and then I slept for the past few days 'cause I have a really bad head cold."
Dr. Irving Grosfield and his wife, Myra, were surprised to be contacted yesterday by friends at their winter home in Florida, saying their son Stephen was listed as missing in Thailand. Stephen was on vacation there when the tsunami broke. But he was apparently never in any danger, as he was staying at a resort on Koh Samui, an island off the east coast of Thailand - the opposite side from the tsunami. The Grosfields reported him missing to the government right after the tsunami hit. They heard from him shortly after, but neglected to call Ottawa back until yesterday. "They said it was an unofficial list," said Grosfield, a retired orthopaedic surgeon.
Some of those contacted by the Star yesterday were critical of Foreign Affairs, but many had praise for the officials trying to track the missing and dead. "The Department of Foreign Affairs has been wonderful in my dealing with them," said one worried parent of a missing son. "The information we're getting, obviously, from Ottawa is negligible," said Rudy Piegsa. "There's nothing really coming. The most valuable information is going to be first-hand experiences from people who were there." But the resident of St.-Lazare, Que., said Foreign Affairs has kept in contact with the family. "They're taxed to the limit and it's a difficult job. Some, maybe most, of these people will never be found."
Charlie Millar, a Vancouver marketing account manager, was outraged to see his parents and brother listed as missing. All three are fine and reported to embassy officials in Thailand within a day or two, Millar said. He was also angry at the Star's publication of the list. "It causes the individuals on that list, specifically my family, unneeded pain and anguish," he said.
Jill Schirmer said seeing her friend's name on a list of missing people in the Star made her sick. Her friend, Richard Michael Flank, was also alive and well and still in Thailand. Schirmer received an email from the 27-year-old Calgary resident the evening after the tsunami.
Other Canadians who were on the list but are safe include:
York University sociology professor Guida Man and husband Michael Stein, who were to go to Phuket but changed plans at the last minute.
Dr. Nelson Ames, medical health officer for the Kootenays, who was on Phi Phi with his wife and daughter.
Canadian Moyez Kassam, his wife Nadia Mohammed Berak and their 14-year-old daughter, who are based in Bahrain and were vacationing in Thailand; they outran the tsunami as it struck their hotel in Phuket.
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