ColdCaseDetective
ColdCaseDetective
Over the River and Into the Dark: The Unsolved Disappearance of Melanie Ethier
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Melanie Nadia Ethier, known to her family and closest friends as “Mel,” was a vibrant and lively young woman in New Liskeard, Ontario. Her deeply woven empathy for others and a passion for dance and artistic expression were cut short by unexplainable, unsolved disappearance in September of 1996, leaving all who knew her across Temiskaming Shores and the entire province of Ontario at large grasping for answers in a sea of evidence that drowned us all in doubt…
As a hope to provide more substantial reasoning built upon observable evidence and situational analysis, this is an examination of Melanie Ethier’s disappearance near the Armstrong Street Bridge and the endless enigmas of small town Canada...
This is Cold Case Detective.
Researched and written by TJ Ruesch
Episode narrated by William Earl
Music by CO.AG
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Melanie Nadia ECI known to her family and closest friends as Mel was a vibrant and lively young woman in new Liskeard Ontario, her deeply woven empathy for others, and they passion for dance and artistic expression were cut short by an unexplainable unsolved disappearance in September of 1996, leaving all who knew her grasping for answers in a sea of evidence that drowned us all in downs as a hope to provide more substantial reasoning built upon observable evidence and situational analysis. This is an examination of Melanie [inaudible] disappearance near the Armstrong street bridge and the endless enigmas of small town Canada. This is cold case. Detective Melanie SGA was born on Christmas day, 1980 in the province of Ontario, Canada from an early age, Melanie was left to be raised by her mother saline at Shea . After her birth father moved away from the family and refused to remain in contact the smell on her mother, forged a tight knit relationship and grew close as Melanie ventured through childhood, as Mel neared adolescents, she found a deep rooted passion for the arts, specifically dance. Her mother enrolled her in dance classes all around Ontario, whether it be after school programs or private lessons on weekends, Melanie was specifically attracted to both ballet and Highland dance styles. After years of meticulous training and holding her skills. Melanie was a Superbowl ballerina by the time she reached high school and when she wasn't showing off her ballet moves, she was scoring high marks with her Scottish Highland sets a popular form of dance originating from Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries. These passions for dance eventually evolved into a love of roller skating as well. One of Mel's favorite pastimes was tagging along with friends for a Friday night at the roller rink, and would even compete in friendly competitions as an amateur roller skater, regardless of the means of expression, Mel loved all things dance, and it was fair to think that wherever the music was playing, Melanie would be there dancing right along with it. By the 1990s, Melanie and Celine moved to a small town of only about 5,400 people called new Liskeard in Ontario located right on the edge of the Ontario Quebec border next to Lake Temiskaming and is an ideal village for people looking for a low key escape from city life for a quiet sleepy town to raise a family new Liskeard, isn't exactly known for its buzzing nightlife or entertainment venues, but the youth of Temiskaming shores find ways to socialize and come together to entertain themselves throughout the year when they're not in school, Melanie fit right in, in that regard, when she wasn't hanging out with friends and creating her own adventures, she was studying hard and receiving top marks at school as a freshmen and sophomore at St . Marie Melanie was an honors students and her teachers always raved about her work ethic and enthusiasm in helping others. This compassion and empathy bled into Melanie's home life as well. In the early nineties saline at GA gave birth to another baby girl named Jesse mal quickly fell in love with her new little sister and acted as a second mother eating saline with household chores and guiding Jessie from infancy
Speaker 2Childhood. Through these endeavors. Melanie discovered a true calling towards tending to the new Liskeard youth and secured a job at a nearby daycare during high school. It was the perfect supplement as Melanie entered adulthood work and school combined with furthering her dance, repertoire
Speaker 1Self-defense classes and balancing recreation with her group of friends all contributed to a busy yet fulfilling life for Mel . That is until just weeks into her junior year at St . Marie when Melanie left her friend's house among the suburbs
Speaker 2New Liskeard and disappeared into the thick of night, never to be seen or heard from again, let's now turn to the timeline of events that led to Melanie's baffling disappearance. The morning of Saturday, September 28th, 1996 starts out like any other Automall weekend. Melanie wakes up and makes plans
Speaker 1With a few of her friends from school later that afternoon, Melanie and her best friend visits , a few different locations around new Liskeard simply enjoying each other's company and running various errands. At some point before dinner time, Melanie stops at a bakery and buys a cake
Speaker 2Pan on a birthday cake for her grandmother's birthday celebration scheduled for the next day after the cake purchase, Melanie
Speaker 1And her friend meet up with Melanie's relative
Speaker 2In new boyfriends, three of his friends, and one of their girlfriends as dusk turns. Tonight's the girlfriend of one of the boys departs the group and heads home, not ready to end the night outs the rest of the team
Speaker 1Venture into a video rental store at sometime between nine and 9:30 PM at around 10:00 PM. Mel brings her friends back to her house in new Liskeard to watch the movie, they rent it however, before
Speaker 2They can do so. Saline
Speaker 1Tells her daughter that her room is not clean enough to bring in any visitors .
Speaker 2Melanie turns to her friends and says they can find somewhere else to watch the film. And the group leaves the FGA residence. This is the last time saline sees or speaks to Melanie a little after 10:00 PM, Melanie and
Speaker 1Company arrive at the home of one of her boyfriend's
Speaker 2Friends located on pine Avenue, a 12 minutes , six block walk from Mel's house,
Speaker 1Just around the same time. Another one of the boyfriend's friends decides to go home for the evening
Speaker 2And say's goodbye between
Speaker 110 and 10 30, the remaining teenagers go down to Melanie's boyfriend's basements to watch the film while the boyfriend's parents sleep upstairs. Before the end of the movie, possibly around 11:30 PM or midnight, another one of the Parsi returns home after another 30 minutes or so passed by at approximately 12:30 AM Mel's best friend whom she had hung out with all day. Until that moment leaves the boyfriend's house to catch her ride, waiting to take her back to Haileybury. As she walks away from the pine Avenue home and through the intersection nearby, she notices a vehicle slowly approaching her from behind with suspicious figures, seated in the car. Melanie's friend runs the remaining distance to where her ride is parked spooked by the airy activity of the crawling vehicle. Meanwhile, back on pine Avenue, an hour goes by and the movie finishes between one 30 and 2:00 AM. Melanie says goodbye to her boyfriend and his friend whose family resides in the house and gets ready to leave. One of the boys walks her to the front door and sees her go outside. They continue watching her as she strolls down park Avenue East a few moments later and unidentified witness spots, Melanie walking across the Armstrong street bridge, heading South over the river. This is the last confirmed sighting of Melanie at GA the next morning, sometime between six and 7:30 AM on Sunday, September 29th saline Akshay wakes up to Melanie's alarm clock blaring in her bedroom. She checks her daughter's room. When the alarm isn't switched off and finds Mel's room empty. And in the same condition, it had been the night before thinking Melanie had simply fallen asleep at her friend's house. A common occurrence saline turns the alarm clock off and goes about her morning. Later, that same
Speaker 2Day, a little after 12:00 PM. Saline
Speaker 1Receives a call from the daycare where Melanie works telling her that Melanie never showed up for her shift. This incident does strike Selena's art and she immediately phones Melanie's friends from the night before the friends tell Celine Mel left at around 1:30 AM and they haven't heard from her since Celine then makes one more phone call this
Speaker 2Time to the new Liskeard police service police chief Doug jelly takes the call and a missing persons reports for Melanie GA is officially filed between 30 and 3:00 PM. New Liskeard police sends separate units of officers to both the SGA residents and the Armstrong street bridge. No clues are picked up in the initial hours. The following day on Monday, September 30th, new Liskeard police call in backup from Syria rounding law enforcement agencies. They receive manpower from the Ontario provincial police, a helicopter as well as police and cadaver dogs. Within the first week of the investigation, police go door to door to speak with them , local citizens and ask to keep a neighborhood watch for any signs of mal . None of these homes are searched, however, and a few new Liskeard residents call in false sightings of Melanie. When a few other girls in the Aria bearing strong resemblances to her are seen walking around the town. Police interrogate these girls to see if maybe Melanie had been a victim of false targeting, but no evidence of such as covered. And the girls are let go on. They October 8th police are finally able to execute an underwater search and rescue the mission in the local Wabi river. This canvassing lasts for three days between the Armstrong street bridge on Lake to misdemeanor , but nothing of any note is pulled from the rivers depths later in October, as the rescue mission bears, no fruits police are left without any evidence of exactly where Mel vanished the night off September 28th, it cannot be determined if she actually went missing on the Armstrong street bridge, but it's fairly agreed upon that. Whatever happens was most likely the result of foul play 1996 draws to a close and as the word spreads around the greater Ontario area and Canada as a whole Mel's fate becomes that much murkier over the next few years, detective spent countless hours interviewing hundreds of potential suspects. They find many new areas is to search around new Liskeard, but nothing of note is on earth. 2004. New Liskeard is amalgamated into the city of Temescal coming shores and the opp gains rain of the Melanie at GA investigation in 2010, detectives assigned to Mel's case announced that's up to that point. They had received 700 tips from 500 different supposedly witnesses, which led to more than 300 persons of interest. However, none of these tips are made public and most of the details of the case are kept under wraps outside of the anonymous testimony, given regarding Melanie crossing Armstrong street bridge at around 2:00 AM in 2017, both saline FCA and authorities come forward and tell reporters. They believe Melanie
Speaker 1Is no longer alive and has been deceased for some time. They do not reveal any new evidence, but still reaffirmed their theory that Melanie met with foul play in 2020 law enforcement D classifies a few documents in the case file. The biggest clue revealed is the testimony from Melanie's best friend regarding a suspicious vehicle parked near pine Avenue at around 12:30 AM on September 29th. As of the present day, detectives are seemingly no closer to solving Melanie [inaudible] inexplicably disappearance, despite a few solid theories purported in the quarter century, since she has still yet to be seen or heard from since crossing the Wabi river in a case void of any known hard evidence or physical clues, the best insight we have into the fate of Melanie FGA is the eyewitness testimony released in 2010 detailing the final sighting of Mel . As she crossed the Armstrong street bridge at around 2:00 AM on September 29th, who gave police this tidbit of information is still classified. However, it has been clarified. This witness is not one of the original friends who watched a movie with Mel at the pine Avenue residence a few hours prior. So who could this I witness be at first glance? The idea of a sighting never bridge at this time of night may seem suspicious if it was unusual for a person of Melanie's age to be out and abouts, particularly at this time of night, why was this stranger doing so while it may not be normal for a 15 year old girl to wander the streets of new Liskeard at two in the morning that section of Armstrong streets near the Wabi river, while still an active traffic spots. Even at that late hour, there are plenty of cars that drive across the bridge each and every night. And with it being a Saturday nights, those spending a weekend in the town would be much more likely to be out in a bounce. The witness could have been one of these people or could have been coming home from the second shift that a workplace intimacy coming shores. It was noted by police at the time that the bottlers of new Liskeard all were closing around the time, Mel would have crossed that bridge. It's possible. One of the patrons or bartenders at these local pubs made the sighting . It is also possible that one of these patrons could have been complicit in Mel's fate to the fact that Mel was cited at all on the night of September 29th, does help draw a hypothetical path of her movements prior to vanishing her route from the house on pine Avenue to Armstrong street is pretty straightforward. In addition, the bridge itself is a Dawn with a fair amount of lighting that would have made spotting a pedestrian using the walkway quite easy. However, it would be the last time along Melanie's theorized route. She would have had ample lighting to make a street siting possible from here is where investigators and slew there's alike lose Melanie's movements while she is still only a few blocks from her residence. She does enter the suburbs where there is significantly less artificial lights and overhead lamps. That would also be less traffic in the neighborhood back roads, thus less headlights casting light across the streets. Multiple paths could have been taken to get from the Wabi river to the SGA home. And all of them are roughly same in terms of darkness. It is worth pointing out that the 26th of September featured a full moon, therefore the night of the 28th would have had a nearly full one providing more natural lights than was perhaps usual. While this probably wouldn't give off enough lights to provide onlookers with a clear sighting of Melanie, it would provide a potential kidnapper or abductor , uh , enough light to operate yet still cloak themselves in the shadows where they could jump out or attack without detection. This is pure speculation, but since it's near certain Melanie disappeared after crossing that bridge, it seems a reasonable scenario to consider regarding the geography of the area and the elements that night. Now let's turn to the most prominent theories in explaining Melanie at Shay's unsolved disappearance.
(Cont.) Over the River and Into the Dark: The Unsolved Disappearance of Melanie Ethier
Speaker 1From the beginning of the investigation, many concerned citizens wondered if Melanie had been taken by her estranged birth father, they have not remained in contact since Melanie's infancy, but people who think Melanie was coerced to get in a vehicle with someone she knew believe it's a logical choice. After years of silence, Mel's father shows up hoping to rekindle that relationship, but instead takes her away from her mother and hometown and leaves Canada altogether. It is an understandable gut reaction. However upon closer inspection, it doesn't quite hold up. Why would he show up in the middle of a Saturday night on a dark side of the street at the end of September? Sure. It could have been a random moment of opportunity, but if Mel's father really wanted his daughter back in his life, he would surely try an alternative form of communication to see if she was interested, why not call her or try and meet her or saline to test the waters instead of instantly resorting to kidnapping after she went missing, there were no testimonies from her friends or Celine herself that Mel's father had tried reaching her in the days leading up to September 28th, making his involvement unlikely. In fact, police ended up tracking him down to follow up on the theory and were able to clear him of any involvement. So if it wasn't Mel's father, is there anyone else specifically who could have swooped through the shadows of the Knights and abducted? There were a couple of names thrown out by new Liskeard investigators in the years following 1996, including those of Roberts Goulay on his half brother , a man known only by his initials of M owl . About five months before Melanie went missing in April of 1996, a 47 year old man was murdered by L and Robert Gooley in a town about 20 minutes North of new Liskeard, both [inaudible] and Goulay were minors at the time. And Al had been inappropriately touched by the man they murdered who was called Louie goats. Yay . Thus, the two boys were aided by that uncle Gregory Crick on Louie [inaudible] . The abuser, all of L was murdered, M L and gulli were never captured. However, and eventually Crick grew paranoid that Goulay was hurting their family through his nonchalant actions. After the murder Goulay himself actually went missing in November of 1996, his body was recovered two years later in a gravel pit in Haley attorn , and while M Al and his uncle Crick were always thought to be responsible. They were arrested in December of 1996 for the Louis Gotea killing. Instead, you may be wondering how any of this links back to Melanie ACCI outside of the cases, geographic proximity. Well, while new lists , good police detectives insist these crimes. Aren't linked. There have been tips and testimonies to suggest. Otherwise one came from an unidentified teenage go, who was a temporary cellmate of ML at a juvenile detention facility in 1998. The girl told law enforcement that ML want's confessed to killing FCA in 1996. But ML has since denied this confession or any involvement at all. Another tip came in from an attendee at a house party in October or November of 1996, which Robert Goulay had also attended prior to his murder. This anonymous attendee told police that up this party Goulay admitted to killing Melanie and getting rid of her body via a wood chipper investigators. Weren't convinced considering the movie Fargo had been released earlier in the spring of 1996 and its infamous scene was probably fodder for plenty of false confessions. Like Ghoulies nevertheless detectives wiretapped to the residences of Goulay M L N their uncle Gregory chick to try and gather any Intel based on private conversations. These wiretaps never revealed any information regarding Melanie ACCI or her disappearance and their potential involvement in the case was dismissed by police theories, revolving around Goulay and ML do not end there. However, as more and more people wondered if Melanie was actually the victim of mistaken identity
Speaker 2And the perpetrators were looking for someone else who resembled her. It was a known fact in 1996, that Melanie was one of only three young black women living in new Liskeard at the time. One of the other three girls who has only been referred to our Sarah by official documents, bore a very close resemblance to Mel , according to both news reports and new Liskeard residents. This second girl named Sarah had been the target of racial abuse and violent threats by two boys around to miss skimming shores. And those two boys were none other than Goulay and ML . The theory then purports that Goulay and ML sought out to kill Sarah for real, but mistook stook . Melanie asked Sarah due to their similar height build and race many wonder why Goulay and ML would target Sarah in the first place other than racial discrimination, one motivating factor could have been Goulay and ML his drug business. They were known for peddling drugs to the use of Temiskaming shores. And Sarah bought from them on several occasions. Then on September 27th, 1996, less than 48 hours before Mel's disappearance. Sarah told one of her other friends that she owed some money to local drug dealers and was afraid that if she didn't pay off her debts, they'd kill her. Sarah even went so far as to tell this friend that it wouldn't be a surprise if she went missing that following weekend . Another interesting element to add into the mix is that Sarah had been known prior to the 27th for her teamwork with local police agencies acting as an informant on a separate group of three boys who were dealing drugs around town. The suspicions didn't end there either. Sarah also just happened to live on pine Avenue, the same road where Mel spent her last night with her boyfriend at his friend's house. Now, Sarah, wasn't a part of the crew that night, but some wonder if the car that had been parked near the house on the night of the 28th, the same suspicious vehicle that spooked Mel's best friends was driven by the supposedly drug dealers that were looking for Sarah . Unfortunately, the story muddies up from that point forward, Sarah learned of Mel's disappearance on the 30th of September and strangely started telling people around the greater new Liskeard area that her name was Melanie. She would dress up in clothes, similar to the ones Mel was wearing the night she disappeared and winter's forest to tell people at the Haileybury bowling alley, that she was the real Melanie at GA . The police never acted on these odd behavioral changes. And Sarah eventually moved out of new Liskeard in 1998 from North boy. She later transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia and has severed all contact with her friends
Speaker 1And family back home in Ontario. The situation with Goulay M Al and Sarah leaves, many questions waiting to be answered we're Goolie and M Al really harassing Sarah in the days leading up to Mel's disappearance. Did people really get confused between Sarah and Melanie on a regular basis, or did a few folks come up with that idea simply because they were two of only three black girls in that community. Was that car that scared Mel's best friends driven by Goulay and ML did they then track down Melanie ? After she crossed the Armstrong street bridge, believing she was Sarah and kidnapped her anyway, when they realized their mistake, can we even believe Sarah story at all? Considering her false impersonations of Melanie after she went missing, if we do, is it possible? Sarah was somehow involved herself, Melanie and Sarah were familiar with each other, but we're not good friends. Again, detectives in both the NLPD and opp say no to all of the above and insist that none of these coincidences quantify as evidence, the Sarah situation, wasn't the only theory to involve a mistaken identity either. There was another girl in the Temiskaming shores, also named Melanie SGA , her middle name being Louise, rather than Nadia. Melanie Louise was only a year older than Melanie Nadia, and both attended the same secondary school at the same time. Police initially thought Melanie Louise could have been the intended victim because she was close friends with the girl who was dating [inaudible] . And at the time M Al was under investigation. Melanie Louise's mother was also a cousin of Louie [inaudible] the man killed by ML and Robert Goulay. So just as Melanie , Nadia could have been mistaken for Sarah because of their appearance. Melanie Nadia could have been mistaken as Melanie Louise because of their name upon closer inspection though, it doesn't really make much sense. How could someone mistake Melanie for another girl who was a completely different height, weight build and ethnicity, at least Sarah was known to be in close proximity to Melanie's last known movements. Melanie Louise was not early on police wondered if M L or whoever the perpetrator was hired. A third party to kidnap Melanie Louise and only told them her first and last name. Then when these third party criminals looked her up, they accidentally picked out Melanie Nadia GA . And that is how the confusion occurred. However, detectives no longer believe Melanie Lewis is in any way connected though. She did partake in an interview in 2020, in which she shared with reporters, a meeting with ML at a park near their home in the autumn of 1996, in which M L acted anxious and
Speaker 2Paranoid asking her if she thought he was involved with the murder of Louis , [inaudible] all the disappearance of Melanie Nadia at Shea , Melanie Louise said at the time she didn't feel like he was responsible, but as of today, does think that ML was involved in both the [inaudible] and in the ECI vanishing, other than Robert Goulay and M Al could there have been any other locals around new Liskeard who could have kidnapped Melanie that fateful night while there aren't any specific names making the rounds? There are a few theories that Mel's abductor was local to , to miss skimming shores. One
Speaker 3Popular theory is that Mel was hit
Speaker 2By a drunk driver on her walk back home because of the poor lighting around the suburbs, past the Wabi river. It makes sense that someone attempting to drive under the influence may not see Mel walking and hit her with their out of control car panicked in the heat of the moments and took her body and got rid of it rather than calling the police. Remember there were multiple bars around new Liskeard that were closing for the night at 2:00 AM. The patrons who decided to leave drunk could be the culprits. In fact, it was popular for regulars to leave the Ontario bars at 2:00 AM and head over to the bars in nearby Quebec. As the laws in Quebec allow pubs to stay open one hour later until three in the morning, all that being said, the chances Mel was struck by a car and then removed by a drunkard are slim to none. It is highly improbable that someone drunk enough to swerve off the side of the road and strike Kate pedestrian would also be cognizant enough to quickly get rid of the body without leaving behind a shred of evidence, nary, a drop of blood or Tuft of hair. And if Mel was hit by a car, it would have made a pretty loud noise and neighbors in the surrounding suburbs. Don't remember hearing any automobile accident that night. There were also two separate and LPD patrol cars stationed outside of the new Liskeard bars that night of September 28th, with officers watching over the departing patrons to make sure such accidents wouldn't happen while it is possible that a patron or two slip through the cracks of the parked cops , vision investigators researched all tips that came into their station in the following months about rumors that Mel was hit by a car and dumped in rural landfills and each and every one was found to be inaccurate or completely made up.
Speaker 3Another popular theory is that Mel
Speaker 2Was attacked by one or two strangers from new Liskeard in a crime of opportunity. In addition to the bars that were still open, there were also a few gas stations in new Liskeard open and operating that late at nights . Two of them, a Mr . Gas and an SOS station would have been passed by Mel on her route back home. And there could have been lurking strangers waiting for a chance to
Speaker 1Attack an unsuspecting woman. There were also a couple of weddings being held at small venues around Temiskaming shores that weekend in September. And it is possible that the crowds they brought in also brought in a person or two looking for trouble. The most likely theory revolving around suspicious new Liskeard locals was born from testimonies, given by two girls connected with Mel. The day she went missing, the first was by one of the girlfriends of the boys that hung out with Melanie on her boyfriends that Saturday afternoon, she didn't end up going to the pine Avenue house that night , but rather returned home to walk her dog while walking her dog at around sunsets. A white delivery van pulled up along the side of the road and stopped next to her, the driver and the passenger two white men in their thirties wearing white tank tops and sporting disheveled appearances asked the girl for directions. The two men gave off incredibly uncomfortable vibes. And when the girl's dog started barking at the van, the two men drove off
Speaker 4Without saying anything else.
Speaker 1The second testimony involving a white van didn't come until 2020, but occurred the same day as the first. This report was given by a female clerk at the video rental store where Mel and her friends rented the movie, they would watch the night of September 28 . The clerk was the sister to one of the boys in Mel's friend group and remembers covering the price of the movie that nights when they came in an hour later at around 10:30 PM, the clerk remembers a white van pulling into a darkly lit slot of the parking lot . And either the driver or the passenger answering the store, the clerk tried assisting the man, but he ignored her requests and loafed around for a few minutes remaining, completely silent. He eventually left and the white van drove away as quickly as it had arrived, but the clerk was unable to get a license plate number. As the low lights made the front of the vehicle indecipherable. When the clerk finally told reporters of the incident, she described the man as being in his forties of on average built standing at either five, eight or five, nine sporting, dirty blonde hair, unkempt blue work pants and work boots and a white shirts that was in the process of turning yellow with dirt and sweat. The clerk would end up calling her father to pick her up feeling too waded out by the white van to walk home. As she usually did to befuddle investigators, even more was an additional report of a suspicious vehicle. Seen the weekend of September, the 28th and 29th. In 1996, this car was described as light colored, possibly white, blue, or gray, and could be of a multitude of older models, such as a Cadillac Eldorado, a Ford Thunderbird or an Oldsmobile 88. It was seen by multiple witnesses driving around new Liskeard with its headlights, switched off and crawling alongside streets, seemingly watching for something most notably. It was also cited on the Armstrong street bridge at around 2:00 AM, just before or after Melanie crossed the Wabi river. This is all the information we have on this mysterious third vehicle. But as sergeants in the end, LPD has since stated that this light colored model is no longer believed to be connected to the case or to either the white van or the car scene on pine Avenue that frightened Mel's friend. However, the men driving those two cars are still seen as active persons of interest. A couple of other theories have also been shut down by investigators yet are still shared by armchair detectives. These range from discussions about a hunting accident to attacks by white supremacists. While the hunting scene around new Liskeard is popular amongst locals and tourists alike, the only types of hunting legalized in the area are small game and bear hunting. Bear hunting was reserved for the springtime in the 1990s and small game. Hunting is really only engaged in by nearby residents, never really drawing in outside crowds. Big game hunting is another story, but in Canada, those hunters must stay at a licensed outfitter and those weren't in operation. Then Timiskaming shores in September of 1996, in terms of a white supremacy operation, there were white nationalists groups active in the area at the time of Mel's disappearance, but there had been no reports of hate crimes or other similar acts in new Liskeard at the time of the investigation and the white supremacist groups themselves were already heavily monitored by the fall of 1996, while it cannot be ruled out there just isn't enough evidence to support it at this point in time, the best remaining theories in Melisse disappearance, all revolve around three serial killers from the Timiskaming area in the 1990s. The first of these is Richard bullion, a sexual predator from Quebec who killed his neighbor a 16 year old girl called Julie in 1999. Richard was never arrested due to a lack of evidence, but both the victims , families and law enforcement figured he was their prime suspect. Richard eventually confessed to Julie's murder along with a handful of other killings while on his deathbed , but was removed as a person of interest in Mel's case when it was confirmed by detectives that he was located eight hours away from new Liskeard on the night of September 28th, the second serial killer profiled was Paul Allen Hashi, a middle aged man convicted of multiple sexual assaults and two murders across Edmonton Alberta, and the province of Ontario. One of the murders was of a 46 year old man in the Toronto neighborhood of Rosedale and the other of a 20 year old woman in North Bay, Ontario after his arrest, Paul confessed to a third murder of another middle-aged white man though police collectively agreed his victim count was higher than he let on. However, his modus operandi does not match Mel's demographic and he was deemed unlikely to be connected to her case by the opp. The third and final serial killer was a man by the name of Michael Wayne. McGray a 30 year old active criminal in the mid 1990s. By 1998, Mark Gray had killed six girls spawning between the ages of seven and 18 and claimed to have even more victims upward of 18. In total, he was arrested in November of that year and investigators examined his purported killings from countless locations across Canada. It was obvious McGray had hopped between provincial cities to cover his tracks, but it was unclear if he had ever been around new Liskeard while Mel's age does fit. Emigres emo. It is yet to be clarified. If he is actively considered a person of interest until they confession comes or evidence is mounted, it'll have to remain nothing more than one of the hundreds of theories thrown abouts in a mystery that only seems to grow by the minutes before we divulge our hypothesis, we want to make it known that our conclusions presented in cold case detective are purely logical speculation
Speaker 2Based on evidence circumstance
Speaker 1And factual subtext. We are only privy to the same information presented in each episode, and we do not attempt to promise certainty or an expert guarantee on the findings we reach in closing, we simply observe research and reports in the case of Melanie [inaudible] . We agree with current opp and NLPD investigators that Mel was most likely a victim of foul play on her walk home from the pine Avenue gathering. She attended that Saturday nights of September 28th, 1996. More specifically, we believe that Melanie was coaxed into the vehicle of someone she either knew or was at least familiar with the biggest clue that Mel wasn't simply kidnapped from her feet and forced into the car is the lack of noise heard by neighbors in those
Speaker 2Early morning hours. Nobody heard the third of a body hitting a car or the screens of a person as they were dragged away against their will. It was a silent endeavor , which strongly hints that Mel was familiar with. Her captor . In addition, Melanie was known to be an incredibly agile and athletic person at the time of her disappearance. She was a ballerina after all and would have put up a fight against an opportunist. And if she saw someone coming before they struck, she would have attempted to run or hide in the shadows of the nights . She may even have attempted to stand her ground and was physically capable of handling herself. Whoever hurt her that night could have been operating with a crony or crew of criminals, especially if you give any merit to the sightings of the men in the white van or the men in the suspicious pine Avenue vehicle at midnight . But remember there was no sound. So unless Mel was taken by a professional group of child kidnappers, it simply doesn't make much sense. There's also the matter of the time of nights and location of Melanie's disappearance that actually dissuades the theories of a random attack. While it may seem to make sense that a predator would conceal themselves in the dark of night and jump out at an odd hour to prey upon unsuspecting women. The fact is that Melanie's new Liskeard suburb was not exactly known for its prowess . Melanie also, wasn't usually a nighttime Walker. She had no routine of walking home alone on Saturday evenings, and there wasn't a pattern for a potential stalker or opportunist to fall. So if Melanie was kidnapped by someone she knew or was familiar with, the question is who the boys that Mel hung out with the night, she went missing have been the focal point of an investigation for years. Detectives claim all the people who hung out with Melanie on the 28th passed lie detector tests. But we all know that doesn't mean much and cannot 100% exclude them from guilt. Of course, these boys have been thoroughly interrogated outside of just a polygraph and Mel's boyfriend of the time has come out and said how much he regrets, not walking her home, but there is still the chance. One of his friends could be to blame. If one of the boys who hung out with Mel did not take her themselves. They could have informed someone else of her plans to walk home that night and have someone else from school. Grab her still while the boys of new Liskeard make realistic suspects. The fact of the matter is the who part of the equation is nearly impossible to discern while most signs point to a level of familiarity between Melanie and her capita, it cannot be determined for sure who took her until a body is found or someone comes forward until then we want to echo the sentiments of those who still fights for Melanie's life of those who are still out there looking for her in every corner of the world to miss skimming shores and beyond. We know somebody out there knows something about Mel's fate. And even if it may not seem like a huge clue, it could be the thing investigators needs to bring her home and deliver closure for her mother and sister. And even though those closest to the case, believe mal is no longer alive as with all missing persons cases. There is still a sliver of hope. She be alive and well, wherever she may be. And until proven otherwise hope will bleed true. It's what Melanie would have wanted as she was such a beacon of hope for others. In the brief time she spent with friends and families, she encompassed that love for others in everything she did, whether it was at dance lessons or the roller rink or the daycare, or just outs in the new Liskeard community. She was unbelievably clever, her intelligence bounds to carry her far into the future success, a certainty. It is up to us to make sure that success returns to Melanie [inaudible] legacy to bring justice to a young girl who deserves it. Tenfold, if you or anyone, you know, has any information related to Melanie at Shay's disappearance, please contact the opp to miss , to attachments at +1 888-310-1122 or Crimestoppers at +1 800-222-8477. This is cold case detective, thank you for listening to this episode of the cold case detective podcast, should you wish to delve deeper into the mystery? You can follow the case file link included in the show notes , which contains important photographs, documents, maps, and further reading relevance to the case. If you would like to support the show you can do so by leaving a five star rating wherever you listen, it really helps us expand our reach and bring awareness to the cases we cover. If you would like us to investigate a specific case, perhaps even one close to home or that of a loved one, please fill out the submission form in the show notes. Thank you for listening. And I'll see you in a fortnight with a new episode.