More than six years after a 40-year-old fisherman went missing on Great Slave Lake, a BC Supreme Court judge in Prince George declared the man dead on Jan. 19.
Jason George Fulton went fishing on the vast Northwest Territories lake on Sept. 29, 2019 with Stacy Linington, 59, Daniel Courtoreille, 51 and Michael Courtoreille, 50. They did not make it back to shore in Hay River and the rescue mission became a recovery mission.
However, all searchers found was their partially submerged fishing boat on Oct. 1, 2019.
Tanya Terri Stump married Fulton in 2005 but they separated in 2017. They had three children together. Stump petitioned the court last year as next of kin to declare Fulton dead under the Presumption of Death Act so that she could obtain a death certificate.
Stump, through lawyer Kyle Parker, told Justice Ronald Tindale that the couple’s 12-year-old child is seeking a passport in order to travel outside Canada. If one of the parents is deceased, a death certificate is required in order to complete the application.
Parker said that the Hay River RCMP did not respond to Stump, so she swore an affidavit that said her daughter, Fulton’s sister and father had never heard from Fulton since Sept. 29, 2019 nor had they any reason to believe he is still alive.
“There's no indication that Mr. Fulton was affiliated with any gangs or organized crime or had any enemies in that regard,” Tindale said.
Stump’s affidavit included copies of news coverage about the quartet’s disappearance and outlines her conversations with her daughter and Fulton’s closest relatives.
“None of them have heard from Mr. Fulton,” Tindale said. “It's clear, on the facts of this case, there was a tragic accident and Mr. Fulton has not been heard of since. His body hasn’t been recovered.”
Tindale concluded that Stump’s petition was appropriate and is supported by evidence.
“So I will make an order that Jason George Fulton will be presumed to be dead, for all purposes, and that his death occurred on Sept. 29, 2019,” Tindale said.
Great Slave Lake, the world’s 10th biggest lake, is the deepest in North America at 614 metres.
