Beattie, Owen

Owen Beattie (born 3 June 1949) is a Canadian professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta. Beattie gained international attention in 1984 for his investigation into the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin, which had left England in 1845 searching for the Northwest Passage. His specialized knowledge of human skeletal biology and forensic anthropology has led Beattie to assist the RCMP and other agencies in criminal investigations and accidents, including the Hinton rail disaster in central Alberta. Through the exhumation in 1984 and 1986 of the frozen bodies of Petty Officer John Torrington, Able-bodied Seaman John Hartnell and Royal Marine William Braine, on Beechey Island, Beattie was able to trace the source of the lead to the expedition's tinned food supply. Following the success of the Franklin research, Beattie turned his attention to the only other Northwest Passage exploration to have ended in mass disaster with no survivors, the 1719 expedition of Capt. James Knight. Beattie spent four Arctic field seasons investigating the Knight expedition mystery.