Looking for Uncle presumed Drowned

[Debbie_Cusack]

I know this may sound like a hoax but I appreciate your listening ear. I am the daughter of Fannie Frances (Fran) Urquhart (nee Welch). My mother lost a brother at sea 40 years ago and as far-fetched as this sounds, she has continued to receive information indicating he may be still alive. I am 41 years old and as a daughter who thought that this was nothing more than a big wish getting blown out of proportion by family members "wanting to believe", I have not paid much attention...up until a few weeks ago when further information was received that was quite unnerving. I now am looking for any assistance that help settle this for my family. I will not go into the long details of how this information came to be...so I'm presenting it's highlights...

In 1959 my mother's brother, David Gordon Welch, was presumed drowned off the coast of Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada. He was heading home to Westport Island, Nova Scotia on his singlemanned boat on a calm evening. The next morning his boat was found damaged against rocks...David's body was never recovered. Again, without eluding to the long story of how this could have been possible,information we have received says he might have been picked up by a Russia boat in the waters at the time and went on to Russia, where he lived for many years with some time spent in a camp. In the last 3 years he may have relocated to Switzerland going by train. David would be 60 on April 30. Information given says he may be married with 2 grown children, described as being tall, greying hair, very light mustache and beard, blue eyes and possible damage/injury to right hand, arm, leg and/or side of face. There may also have been reasons that his last name was changed - Wilson, Wilcox and Vladimir are ones that have come up over the years.

Again, I would greatly appreciate any sincere assistance in furthering my search - my grandmother lost another son, Gerald, at sea whose body was never found and she always believed him to be dead - however, she died last summer at 92 still firmly stating that David was still alive. With all that I have heard in the last month, I'm beginning to wonder myself!

Thank you
Debbie Cusack