Back in 1990 we were doing a lot of environmental work for Kodak, which had its share of big-time contamination problems. We did a lot of sampling all over Kodak Park, and it usually involved a lot of drilling of soil and rock. Characterizing the geologic conditions was a big part of every investigation. After studying isolated pockets of Kodak Park over the years, it was decided that our company would do a more comprehensive, regional geologic study and report that would serve as a backdrop for all of these individual studies we were doing. This was a boon to us geologists on staff at the time as it gave us free rein to study the overall geology of the Rochester area, both on paper and in the field. I was lucky enough to be involved in both aspects. The field work included getting out and doing some bedrock mapping at some of the few rock outcrops we have in this area.
One of the best places to see the local rock formations is in the barge canal on the west side of the city. It's one long outcrop, and it exposes one of the few faults in the area. We decided in April to take my canoe along the canal because the ice had thawed and they had just begun refilling it for the summer. So the water level was high enough to canoe but not yet high enough to inundate the rock walls. I was joined by two women, Suzanne, who worked with me, and Judy who worked for Kodak. Geologists all. Even though it was only April it was a sunny and calm day, the kind that can give you your first sunburn of the season. We put in somewhere west of Rt. 390 and slowly headed east. The plan was to just take a lot of pictures and notes, and get a few fracture and bedding measurements with the Brunton Compass. We all knew it was a gift of a workday and we were ready to enjoy it. Nothing like getting paid to spend a nice day outside on the water.
Being so early in the season, we had the canal to ourselves. The first thing we noticed was the abundance of flotsam and jetsam being delivered by the current, which we were going against. That included a dead raccoon and other small and decaying organisms. I guess the canal in winter is the place to die if you're a critter. I remember quipping that we better keep our eye out for something bigger and shaped like us. We cruised along, stopping here and there to be geologists and after about a half a day we were somewhere past Buffalo Road. The walls are vertical and fairly high along that stretch, and the slopes above are covered in dense brush. You can't see much from down in the canal, nor can you be seen, except from the occasional bridges.
A tree had toppled from the upper slope into the water and was laying against the rock face like a rake against a garage wall. As we approached it we could see a dark object floating up against it. Because of our earlier joking about the possibility, I think we knew right away what it was, but your mind does play tricks on you, so we couldn't be sure. Like when you're driving along the road and something on the shoulder looks from a distance like one thing but when you get close to it turns out to be something entirely different from what you were sure you saw. I steered the canoe directly toward it, and as we got close, any questions about what it was were imediately answered, by observation and smell. We had us a dead body.
Gruesome is a good word - all bloated and rotten. Pardon the pun but it was doing the dead man's float. Only the shoulders and back were really above water. But the thing I remember most clearly was the stench. We did not stay close for long.
It's pretty weird to come upon a body, especially when that was not our purpose for being there. We weren't on a missing person hunt, but we found one. So now what do we do? Well, it was 1990, but being slightly ahead of our time, we actually had a cell phone with us. More often called "portable" phones back then, they weren't really in common use yet, but we owned a couple of them for project work. It was one of those giant brick phones, and it would get really hot in your hand if you talked for long. We thought it would be a good idea to have it with us. So I dial 911, and it went something like this:
me: I want to report a dead body that we just found.911: What's the address?
me: Uhh, there is no address. I'm on the barge canal.
911: Where exactly are you calling from?
me: A canoe in the barge canal.
911: Can you give me an exact location?
me: Exact, no, but we're about half-way between Buffalo Road and Chili Ave.
911: Are you sure its a body?
me: Based on smell alone, yes.
A few minutes later she called back:
911: The rescuers should be approaching soon, but they will have to be on foot. They're asking you to make yourself visible so they know where the body is.
I wanted to say leave the rescuers out of this, it's too late, and just tell them to just follow the smell, but I didn't. Something about the oddness of the situation made me want to crack jokes. After about ten minutes our little isolated spot, which was not accessible by vehicle, was crawling with firemen and cops. They quickly had a guy don a wetsuit, climb a ladder down into the canal (about 15 ft. below the edge of the bank) and wrestle this rotten corpse into a basket. The unlucky guy was named Scotty and you know he was the newest guy on the force. They kept yelling encouragement: "That's it Scotty! Great job Scotty!"
Once the job was done, we continued on our way but I don't guess we got a whole lot done after that. I spent time on the phone later with the police and got a call from the D&C that night, asking for details. The reporter said her editor boss, when he heard the story recounted later that afternoon, told her to call me because it sounded weird to him that someone would have a portable phone with them in a place like that. Times have changed.
The victim turned out to be a guy who ran away from a halfway house and they ruled it accidental but I heard through the grapevine they suspected suicide. A sad story to be sure. We shared a headline with him the next day:
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2 comments:
GREAT story....I know I had heard it before, probably over beers at TGIF or the day we moved offices...but never in that kind of detail. This may sound crazy but it actually makes me miss the field. A little. I AM still a geologist but I do so little geology now...I miss those days sometimes. And I remember my very first day on a drill rig. Somewhere near the Wegmans in Pittsford. You sat with me on the rig and showed me how to fill out drilling logs. I was scared out of my mind, less than 2 weeks on the job, fresh out of grad school. Can you believe that was 11 years ago?
Bob - a pretty accurate description of the day's events. Except you should have elaborated on the fact it was about 90+ degrees on the canal which only added to the discomfort (both ours and Scotty's). I think they had to treat him for heat exhaustion. In typical fashion, there were about 15-20 chiefs (FD and PD) and only 1 indian (Scotty) on that day (and I can use that euphemism because I am Indian). What a hoot! That was back in the old days when working for a living was fun...
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