BY ABIGAIL TATOR
East York Mirror

October 11, 2002

Angela Ellis has always been fascinated by unsolved mysteries. Now the East York resident is using that fascination to help others. Ellis volunteers for the Doe Network, a volunteer-run, non-profit organization devoted to solving cold cases regarding unexplained disappearances and unidentified victims from North America, Europe and Australia.

The website, which was started in 1999 now has 105 members.

Ellis serves as member co-ordinator and case submission co-ordinator. She is also area director for Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

Volunteers include law enforcement officers, detectives, journalists, medical examiners, laywers and "everyday" people.

"I've always been fascinated with cold cases. Cases like Nicole Moran. I am amazed that people could be missing for so long without a trace," Ellis said. "Being a mom myself, I can't imagine what those families are going through. So I want to do anything I can to help."

Volunteers validate and update cases featured on the website, research to get more information and comb newspapers for old cases. They make potential matches between missing and unidentified persons and pass them onto law enforcement agencies. The organization assists agencies including the RCMP and police in York Region, Toronto and Hamilton.

The organization has successfully solved three cases and has many other potential matches between missing and unidentified persons. Members of the Doe Network matched an unidentified man killed in an accident in Texas in 1992 to a missing man from Michigan.

Robert Lingoes, a civilian dispatcher with the Quincy, Mass., Police Department and the Doe Network's law enforcement liaison, performed a search for an unidentified victim listed on the Texas Department Of Public Safety's Website. The victim was also featured on the Doe Network.

The unidentified man was killed in a train collision on Sept. 12, 1992 in Victoria, Tex. Authorities believed his name may have been Kelly. Through thorough research, Lingoes learned that Kelly may have used the last name Zaezlcal.

Lingoes solicited the assistance of Vicki Siedow, a private investigator in California who is also a volunteer with the Doe Network. Siedow and Lingoes discovered a man from Flint, Mich. named Kelly Zaezlcal had disappeared. Zaezlcal's description matched the characteristics of the victim and Lingoes informed the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Lingoes learned that the victim was identified as Zaezlcal in September 2001. Zaezlcal apparently led a transient lifestyle at the time of his death and had not had consistent contact with his family. A missing person's report was never filed.

All disappearance cases featured on the network have been on the books for more than nine years (1993 or prior). The unidentified victims cases are all prior to, or during 2000. All cases featured on the have been filed with a law enforcement agency.

The Doe Network is centred on featuring photographs, reconstructed images and available evidence for cold cases that have received little public attention in recent years.

"The police just don't have the manpower to work on all of these cases. We don't want to get in anyone's way, but we are just here to assist them," Ellis said. "Even just listing the pictures might be enough - if enough people look at the website."

Ellis said the Doe Network is looking for more members from Canada.

For information on how to join the organization or to view cases, visit www.doenetwork.org.