Police believe Partheepan Subramanium is deceased
Toronto police have not yet been able to find a missing Sri Lankan Canadian 27-year-old IT professional and part time DJ who fell off a boat in Ontario Lake on Sunday night.
The Marine Unit of the police says the officers are no longer treating the search for the man, Partheepan Subramanium, who also went by his showbiz name DJ Brownsoul, as a rescue effort. Speaking to CP24 on Tuesday, police said they believe Subramaniam is deceased and crews are currently undertaking recovery efforts. The marine unit is collaborating with the Canadian Coast Guard on the recovery effort.
Police began searching Lake Ontario on Sunday night after receiving reports that a man had fallen off a boat near Scarborough Bluffs in the city’s east end around 9.45 in the night. Bluffer’s Park has been designed to improve public access to the base of the Scarborough Bluffs, featuring a sandy beach, picnic areas, walks, lookouts, a boat launch and visitors’ dockage.
A visitor to the popular park on Sunday said “The place was absolutely packed and the car park practically full. There were people all over the place, with many barbecues going and loud music blaring.”
Subramaniam’s uncle Kandeepan Suppiah told the media that he brought his nephew down from Sri Lanka when he was ten years old, adding that Subramaniam was not a strong swimmer. He was working at TD Bank as an IT professional and also performed as DJ Brownsoul on a part time basis.
The lake was slightly choppy at the time of the incident, but there had been no sign of extreme weather at the time. Police said six people were on board the boat when the man fell into the water and it is not clear whether he was wearing a life jacket. “He apparently fell overboard, they were unable to find him and they called 911,” a spokesperson for the police services said. “Our marine unit responded and they are still on scene,” the spokesperson said on Monday. “It’s quite an extensive search. It’s a growing search. We actually deployed officers from other areas of the city to assist in searching the shoreline as well. Unfortunately, we have not had any luck in finding this young man and the search continues.”
Tearful Supphiah said Subramaniam is “like my son” describing him as very smart, popular and well-known in the Tamil community as a DJ. “He’s a good DJ,” he said. “He was doing well.”
Friends of Subramaniam knocked on Suppiah’s door at 1:30 a.m. on Monday to deliver the sad news of the missing nephew. Suppiah said he has already notified his brother in Sri Lanka.
CBC News said that videos from the missing man’s Instagram account show different views of Lake Ontario from the bow of a white-and-red boat. In the videos, the boat is moving quickly over the water. One video shows Toronto downtown skyline, while another shows the Bluffs in the background. In a four-second clip, a young man in a red sweatshirt is looking into the camera from the boat.
About 20 friends and family held a vigil on Monday by the shores of Lake Ontario where he went overboard off the front of the small speed boat about 200 meters off the coast.
A friend who has known Subramaniam for more than 10 years told the media that he was a very creative and talented DJ very popular in the Sri Lankan community. “He was planning to put together a huge production with international artistes like Sean Paul and was busy in his studio during the fast few weeks,” the friend said.
In his Facebook page Subramaniam said ‘he always love changing the game around and setting a good example for younger DJs.They call me the trendsetter’.
Mourning the death of a 26-year-old DJ Shaun Imran Fazal (known as 2Touch One) in Brampton, Ontario who passed away in 2016 Subramaniam said in his Facebook page, “Can’t Believe the news…RIP Shaun Fazal aka 2Touch One of the GREATEST DJs, but most importantly AMAZING Human Beings that I have ever met!! Condolences to the Family during this extremely difficult time…”
