Buffalo man’s body, went over Niagara Falls in 1990, identified in Oswego

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The remains of a man who went missing at Niagara Falls State Park over three decades ago have been identified as a man from Buffalo, according to the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office.

The man, now identified as Vincent C. Stack, went missing from Niagara Falls on Dec. 4, 1990 and was believed to have gone over the falls.

He was found on April 8, 1992, on the shore of Lake Ontario in what is now Novelis Point, just outside of the city of Oswego. Stack would have traveled around 15 miles to the mouth of the river, and then over 130 miles across Lake Ontario over the next 16 months. At the time, efforts to identify him were unsuccessful.

The Oswego County Sheriff’s Office renewed their efforts to identify the remains in 2022, which were “badly decomposed and mostly skeletal.” DNA samples were used in collaboration with police in Canada to identify Stack.

Police added that they are actively working on several more missing persons and unidentified remains cases in the Lake Ontario area.