Police accused of ‘stonewalling’ family of man who died after making 911 call
On the morning of Aug. 30, 2024, Rick Buerger and Christine Stark arrived at their brother Ralph Buerger’s house in Fonthill, Ont., to find he had died overnight at just 59 years old.
They later learned Ralph had contacted 911 at 2:56 a.m., apparently to ask for help, but he’d been unable to speak. The call lasted 35 seconds.
A recording of the call, released to the family after Global News began asking questions of police, contains what sounds like someone falling to the ground, followed by apparent heavy breathing.
Despite the sounds appearing audible in the recording, neither police nor paramedics were dispatched to Ralph’s address that night. The family said police promised them an investigation into why a wellness check wasn’t ordered, with officers, they said, acknowledging something had gone wrong.
Almost a year later, however, Rick and Christine are still waiting to see the results of the investigation into what happened that night, which they were told was complete in October.
Rick and Christine say police said they’d have to use freedom of information laws to access a recording of the 911 call and read the investigation. Officers told them the report cleared the operator and police of making any mistake.
Until Thursday, neither Rick nor Christine had been given access to the recording as they tried to navigate a complicated appeals process and police accountability mechanisms.
They say the entire ordeal has been traumatic, cruel and unnecessary.
“It’s even very difficult because it’s not allowing us to actually grieve our brother because we feel like we have to be in a fight for something,” Christine said.
When Rick and Christine arrived to find their brother had died, and later learned he had tried to make a 911 call, they asked police how it could have happened.
A friend of Ralph’s had worked out from his phone records that he had made the call for emergency help. The same friend then contacted police to ask them to look into why nobody was sent to the house.
Christine said she was told the 911 operator had tried to call back but had not received an answer. Christine said they were told they had checked if Ralph had ever made a call to 911 before and had pinged the phone number and located the area — within about 30 metres — where the call had come from.
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She alleged the police detective she spoke to said that at that point admitted that someone had “messed up.
“They made a mistake because nobody was sent,” she recalled the officer saying.
Christine said she was told by the detective that he would be surprised if the chief of police was not already looking into how that had happened.
Niagara Regional Police refused to comment on any elements of the events surrounding the death or the 911 call, including a request from Global News for the force to share its version of events.
Soon after, however, the police’s attitude appeared to change.
On Oct. 27, a detective called Rick to inform him that a professional standards investigation into the 911 call had been completed and determined there was “no misconduct” on the part of the operator.
In the call, which Global News has heard a copy of, the detective told Rick the 911 operator could not “hear any sounds or noises on the call that would cause her concern.”
Rick said he didn’t understand how the police had gone from telling them somebody had made a mistake to saying there were no issues. Christine agreed.
“We had good faith in the police at the beginning that they were going to be assisting us through this process,” she said. “And it just got stonewalled very early on, and it’s been extremely difficult.”
Global News has listened to a copy of the 911 call, which police finally shared with Rick this week. In it, the sound of a crash can be heard as well as strained, rhythmic air sounds, which could be breathing.
Niagara Regional Police did not address questions from Global News about the events in August, citing an ongoing investigation from Ontario’s Inspector General of Policing.
The Inspector General of Policing’s office refused to comment on the investigation.
Navigating a complicated appeal process
Surprised by the change of position from the police, Rick asked for a copy of the 911 call his brother had made to listen to himself. He also requested a copy of the investigation.
“I said, ‘OK, can I have a copy of it?’” Rick said, recalling the phone discussion with the detective in October. “He goes, ‘No, you know the process on how to do that.’ So, then we started with freedom of information.”
Rick filed a request asking for the call recording, the investigation and a copy of 911 operating procedures. Niagara Regional Police, however, rejected it and said the information would not be disclosed, telling Rick he could file an appeal instead.
He then embarked on a painful negotiation, through Ontario’s privacy watchdog, to try and access the information police hold about the night his brother died.
“It’s really been hard on them and unnecessary as well,” local MPP Jeff Burch, who has been enlisted to help, said.
“To give a family closure, they want an apology, and they want to know that steps are taken so that this doesn’t happen to another family. I support them and I hope that they get a prompt and satisfactory response from the police.”
The process has taken its toll on Rick.
“Since January, I have been on calls to (the policing inspector) and (freedom of information appeals) or whatever emails — minimum six calls per month and 12 emails a month,” he said.
“Then, when I’m waiting for responses, because I live in Thailand, it’s the middle of the night, I can’t sleep, I’m always checking for responses.”
At around 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Global News sent detailed questions about Ralph’s death and Rick’s request for information to Niagara Regional Police. The next day, a spokesperson replied.
“This matter is currently under investigation by the Inspectorate of Policing (IoP),” they said. “In order to preserve the integrity of that process, it would be inappropriate to comment or provide further information at this time.”
Forty-eight hours after the questions were sent, however, the force finally relented on one of Rick’s requests, handing him the recording of the 911 call.
The investigation itself has still not been released, nor have the local 911 operator guidelines.
Looking for answers and closure
Rick and Christine say they’re tired of fighting for basic information and know that reading the investigation into the Aug. 30 call won’t bring their brother back.
Accessing the information might, though, bring them closure, and they say it will help them start to look forward again, and hopefully ensure lessons are learned so no family has to go through what they have.
“We understand, people make errors, humans make errors, and we get that,” Christine said.
“I just want them to honour what they initially said, that it was a mistake. Let’s look at what the error was — is it a financial constraint? Is it a staffing issue? What is the issue? So it can be rectified so it doesn’t happen again to someone else.”
A new poll by Leger has found that Quebec residents are the happiest in Canada.
The web survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians found that Quebecers rated their happiness at an average of 72.4 out of 100, which is well above the national average.
New Brunswick followed Quebec with an average of 70.2, while Manitoba and Prince Edward Island finished at the bottom of the list.
Mississauga, Ont. had the highest happiness rating of the 10 largest cities, while Toronto was lowest.
Montreal finished second in the category.
The survey found that 49 per cent of respondents said their happiness level was unchanged over the past year, while 23 per said they were happier and 28 per cent said they were less happy.
“These results reveal a population that is both resilient and tested, affected by everyday uncertainty and challenges,” Leger’s executive summary read. “Happiness, while holding its ground overall, shows signs of fragility.”
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The survey found that people in the 18-to-24 and 24-to-34-year-old categories were more likely to report improved feelings of well-being, even if their overall happiness score remained below the national average.
In contrast, people in the 35-to-44 and 45-to-54 age brackets were more likely to report their happiness had deteriorated.
“There is a sense of well-being emerging among younger age groups,” the summary read. “However, this also highlights the importance of supporting adults in mid-life, who are more vulnerable to the pressures of working life.”
Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador were the three provinces with happiness levels above the national average of 68.7. They were followed, in descending order, by Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and P.E.I. The territories were not included in the survey.
In the survey of the 10 largest cities, Mississauga and Montreal finished ahead of Hamilton, Calgary, Brampton, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, in that order.
Women reported slightly higher happiness levels than men, at 69.4 versus 68.0.
Leger says the overall results confirm “a level of happiness that is relatively high but stagnant or even slightly down compared to the pre-pandemic period.”
To get the results, Leger surveyed 39,841 Canadians aged 18 and up between March 31 and April 13.
Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Ontario Provincial Police are set to host a town hall in Quadeville, Ont., this evening to answer questions from residents about an attack on an eight-year-old child that was initially linked to an animal.
Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in the case and he faces charges of attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon.
Members of the small community 170 kilometres west of Ottawa say they were in shock after hearing about the arrest and hope to get clarity at today’s event in the town’s community centre.
Local resident Christine Hudder says she wants to know how police came up with the animal attack theory and why families were told for days to keep their children indoors.
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The victim was found with life-threatening injuries on June 24 after she was reported missing, and remains in hospital.
Police say they are planning to give as much information as possible to locals given that an investigation is still underway.
A Burlington, Ont., mother was unsettled to discover that an old photo of her children had been used in a fraudulent GoFundMe that attempted to elicit donations in connection the recent Texas floods.
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to say that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
“She reached out to me and she was like, ‘Hey, here’s a link to a GoFundMe. Sorry this has happened to you, but obviously a picture of your kids has been used without your consent and it’s being used for a GoFundMe to raise money, to help a family dealing with the Texas floods,’” she said.
Cole explained that the fake GoFundMe, which has since been removed by the company, was looking for donations to support a widowed mother of six kids in connection.
At least 120 people have died while more than 100 others remain unaccounted for as a result of the flooding, including 27 children and councilors from Camp Mystic.
“They were trying to raise $40,000 because of the three daughters had been victims of the Texas floods,” Cole said. “And the way it was presented felt very much like they were part of maybe that girl’s camp.”
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to make that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
Provided
Cole said once the listing was sent to her, she immediately contacted GoFundMe to get the fundraiser taken down.
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By Wednesday morning, the company had done so and in a statement to Global News, GoFundMe said that the fundraiser did not receive any donations and the account has been banned from creating any further fundraisers on the platform.
“GoFundMe has the most robust donor protection processes of any platform of our kind. We have round the clock trust and safety support, humans and technology making sure funds will get to where they are intended,” the statement offered.
After contacting the company, Cole said she shared the incident on her social media pages to raise awareness.
“So I did put it on my Facebook and I put it in my LinkedIn as like a heads-up learning experience kind of thing and there was a lot of outrage,” she said.
Cole also noted that while she is disappointed by the incident, she is well aware that her troubles are miniscule in comparison to those affected by the flooding.
“I do feel a little bit in myself that what I’m feeling is in no way comparable to what the actual families are feeling who have gone through the tragedies of the flooding,” she said.
The photo came from an old blog post she had written 16 years ago. Cole can date the picture as the baby in the photo is now getting ready to go for his driver’s test.
“I’m one of those, like, OG mommy bloggers from 20 years ago. So my kids have been on the internet. They have been sort of in the public eye,” she explained.
“And I know the risk is out there. And I think parents need to remember that, that their kids’ photos can be just screenshotted and used without consent. So there’s one lesson.
“I felt a little, well, very unsettled about it, particularly because of what it was being used for.”
In addition to being a parenting blogger, she also helped found Mabel’s Labels, which offers washable labels for kids clothing and other school items, in an effort to keep them out of the lost and found.
Julie Cole and her six kids in 2025.
Provided
Being a spokesperson for the company while raising six kids keeps her in the parenting sphere and she offered some other advice to parents about the images and social media.
“I think parents just have to be mindful and aware that once it’s out there, you know you’d like to think you’ll get consent or you’ll give consent if somebody asks or they want to use it, but people will just take it and they can just take,” she said.
“You have to be especially careful now with AI, because these photos can be altered.”
She also warned parents to check with their kids as they get older to see if they are OK with pics being posted and that people should be mindful of where they are sharing their donations.
“Another lesson out of this is people need to really be cautious and know where they’re putting their fundraising dollars,” Cole said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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