Surrey man's DNA tested in notorious missing-child case

Policehave confirmed they have collected and are testingDNA samples from a man in Surrey, B.C.,to rule out that he is Michael Dunahee,a Victoria boy who went missing more than 20 years ago.

In early July, Victoria policecontacted the man, who wrote about their discussion on a local Vancouver Canucks hockey forum.

"I was contacted by Victoria police because there has been tips that I have a remarkable resemblance to micheal dunahee, I'm freaked out right now and there coming to get a DNA sample!!!" the man posted on July 10in a new forumtopiche called "Michael Dunahee."

"I'm pretty sure I'm not, but what if I am?!?" he wrote.

The man went on to say that he is 26, around the same age that Dunahee would be today, and explained that he remembers moving around a lot when he was young. He also said hisfather left the family when he was around 10, and his mother passed away earlier this year.

He said on thewebsite thathe had scheduled to meet with Victoria police the following Wednesday, for DNA sample collection.

Police say the man is likely not Michael Dunahee, but the force has made a commitment to the family to pursue all the leads it can.

Police have been searching for Dunahee since March 24, 1991,when the then four-year-old boy disappeared from a playground at Blanshard Elementary School in Victoria while his parents and other adults were close by.

• Child's disappearance still a mystery 22 years on
• How police search for missing children decades later

The disappearance labelled an abduction the following day sparked one of the largest child abduction investigations in Canadian history, involving nearly 100 police officers from the region and across B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

Last year, thefamily of the missing boy issued an age-enhanced composite picture, estimating what Dunahee would look like as a 26-year-old man. The Surrey man alsouploaded a recent picture of himself to the forum to allowthe users to compare it against the composite, and against older images of the missing boy. The forum topic thread has since been removed from the site out of concerns for the man's privacy.