CANADA Canada - Lloyd Larsfolk, 14, & John McCormick, 15, Caledon ON, Aug 1981

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CrimeSolver

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Here is another frustrating case because there is so precious little information about the disappearances. The two were playing at McCormick's parents' farm in Caledon, Ont., about 1/2 hour north of Toronto, when they vanished.
There is some indication police know who may have been involved, and that that man has died in the interim, but nothing more has been revealed. According to this person http://forum.canadianparents.ca/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=160471&page=7&view=expanded&sb=11&o=&vc=1 , the disappearances were not even reported in the press until three years later, and then only cursorily.
Anyone with more info or a personal story related to this please post here at Websleuths.
http://doenetwork.org/cases/15dmon.html
http://doenetwork.org/cases/250dmon.html
 
Im glad someone has brought this thread up again. I often google these 2. There is a shockingly small amount of info on them.
 
Thanks for bringing this to the top, guys. I would really like to know more about this case, such as what the police believe happened. Surely they can give their suppositions without naming the deceased suspect. These kids deserve more than to be pushed into the margins of history, as they have been so far.
 
I've often wondered what the story was with the two boys; one of them looks just like my son & it tugs at my heartstrings. I came across them on the DoeNetwork a while back and did some searching on my own only to find nothing. Where is the exposure for these two kids? Where are their families? Where is LE? Where is the push to close this case???
 
I wonder if there is some way to get these boys into the spotlight of the media..?
 
What I wrote at the top about the lack of media reporting is false. I have looked through newspaper archives, and the disappearance of these two was the subject of at least half a dozen articles in the Toronto Star. But the articles contained virtually nothing of investigative value, mainly because they vanished without a trace. In my article search I found no mention of the purported deceased suspect.
 
CrimeSolver said:
Thanks for bringing this to the top, guys. I would really like to know more about this case, such as what the police believe happened. Surely they can give their suppositions without naming the deceased suspect. These kids deserve more than to be pushed into the margins of history, as they have been so far.
Click to expand...

Crimesolver -

Have you seen this?

The following is from a longer article about the DOE Network and their quest to resolve unresolved cases;
"Eric Larsfolk's family had just moved from Fort Erie into a Caledon-area
farmhouse that summer of 1981. The Larsfolks had lost their greenhouse
business and they were all looking forward to starting over.

There even seemed to be a good omen when Eric, 14, won a bicycle at the
local Dairy Queen. "We took a picture of him outside the store that day,"
recalls his father Lloyd in the living room of his Brampton home. "That was
the last picture we had of him."

He recounts the horror in a weary, hollow voice. In mid-August, their
neighbour's son arrived home after weeks in Virginia. Both about the same
age, Eric became fast friends with John McCormick and the two could often be
found on the McCormicks' sprawling 150-acre property, playing around the
gravel pit or riding in John's old Chevy.

So Larsfolk didn't think twice when his youngest son told him and his wife
Beverley that he was heading over to the McCormicks' after dinner that Aug.
He didn't know that he would never see his son again.

But then there was much he didn't know. He had no idea that John McCormick
Sr. was an alcoholic or that he had beaten his son so badly that it had sent
him to hospital. It was after his discharge that John Jr. had been sent to
the States to visit relatives.

The boy had only been back home for 10 days.

It was after 11 p.m. when a frantic Joyce McCormick arrived at the
Larsfolks' door looking for her son, John. When she learned that the boys
were supposedly together at her house -- she had been out that evening --
the search began.

"John (Sr.) was drunk at the time and he said he hadn't seen the boys,"
Larsfolk says. But Eric's bike was outside their house.

John McCormick Sr. joined in the search that night -- but that would be the
last time he would help out. He would never make a public appeal for his son
or speak to reporters.

They found the boys' footprints in the gravel pit on the McCormick property,
but they stopped at the fence.

"That was the last indication of the two boys," says Larsfolk, 71. "We
turned the world upside down to find them."

They did grid searches of the bush, dragged all the ponds, hunted in every
barn and every well. Long after they had moved away, Larsfolk would return
and search some more.

He could not let go. He still can't, even after all this time. The
McCormicks, though, packed up John's room a few days after he went missing.

John Sr. died of cirrhosis of the liver on Oct. 15, 1987.

The OPP say their prime suspect is dead, but they will say little more.

After McCormick's death, his widow sold the property and moved away. She has
never spoken publicly about her son's disappearance except to tell the local
paper, "I just want to let it go."

Psychics have repeatedly told the Larsfolks that the boys are dead and
buried near Caledon.

On May 13, 2000, the OPP searched a horse barn on the McCormick property.
Using new ground penetrating technology, they were able to investigate
whether there had been anything buried under the concrete floor. Again,
nothing.

Beverley Larsfolk died of breast cancer on May 23, 2000 without ever
learning her son's fate.

"I wonder if she's talked to Eric," her husband says softly. "I wish she'd
tell me if she has."
------------------------------------

The suspect was John McCormick Sr, deceased.
 
Someone close to me was obsessed with this case for many years. That person developed an email relationship with a DOE investigator, that is the source of the info I have.

Apparently, the McCormicks refused to allow a picture of their son to be used in missing children's profiles. People are entitled to their privacy, but that was certainly suspicious under the circumstances. I believe the picture of John that we have was obtained by Police from another relative.

Hope that helps...
 
Roy, thanks so much for the informative article. It certainly fills in a lot of missing details of the case. Wow, that's a shocker about the father being the suspect! Sad that the McCormick boy apparently had uncaring - and maybe worse - parents, both of whom showed a callous disinterest (or nefarious concealment) in the fate of their son. If McCormick Sr. was the responsible party, I wonder what was his motive.
I guess there will never be a conclusive resolution to this case, but maybe someone will eventually stumble upon some bones and at least conclude that aspect.
 
CrimeSolver said:
Roy, thanks so much for the informative article. It certainly fills in a lot of missing details of the case. Wow, that's a shocker about the father being the suspect! Sad that the McCormick boy apparently had uncaring - and maybe worse - parents, both of whom showed a callous disinterest (or nefarious concealment) in the fate of their son. If McCormick Sr. was the responsible party, I wonder what was his motive.
I guess there will never be a conclusive resolution to this case, but maybe someone will eventually stumble upon some bones and at least conclude that aspect.
Click to expand...

You are most welcome! My friend found some closure in that info, also.

These boys never have been and never will be forgotten. :)
 
Yes, at least the info, however incomplete, provides some "closure" (there's that awful bromide). By the way, do you have any idea of the location of the farm? I know it was on Horseshoe Hill Rd. somewhere near Caledon East, but I have nothing more specific.
 
CrimeSolver said:
Yes, at least the info, however incomplete, provides some "closure" (there's that awful bromide). By the way, do you have any idea of the location of the farm? I know it was on Horseshoe Hill Rd. somewhere near Caledon East, but I have nothing more specific.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry - what I've given above is all I have to contribute.
I know nothing more.
 
John and Joyce McCormick had another child that died young - Carol Ann.
Children include daughter Kim - now Kim Zuk - Brampton
John has/had sister Marie Iwashenko and Brother Michael - still living in Caledon on same road as John did in 1981. RR#3 (Horseshoe Hills Rd)
Joyce divorced John now remarried - Joyce Lawson.

Caledon OPP remain tight lipped - will not discuss details - still active case. Would like to get in touch with Bill Currie - investigating officer at the time.

Timeline from when boys last seen until time Larsfolk came looking is very short - only a couple of hours - not a lot of time to hide bodies in the moment - likely was done in days that followed. Lots of places to conceal in that area around Caledon - lots of pits, ponds, and abandoned wells.
 
Thank you dearmont! It sounds like this is a family with many secrets. I take it you mean that John (the missing child) has one living sister...Kim? In addition there are aunts and uncles who still live in the area? What if any statements have they given to LE? You are right dearmont, 2 hours is not a very long time...especially if John Sr. was intoxicated at the time.
 
Likely John Sr was in that state after the fact. Let's consider a possible scenario. Boys were doing what boys do - maybe did some damage around the farm - Dad becomes enraged and accidentally strikes and kills John Jr. Eric is a witness to all this and is likewise murdered. The two boys would have been able to either defend themselves or run, had John Sr been drunk as alleged. So, panic, how do you conceal two bodies in a hurry? Use what is readily available, perhaps one of those 55 gallon drums with a clamp lid. Two bodies the size of the boys would fit in one. Not something the police would be looking for right away since it is always assumed to be a run-away situation first. Get rid of the barrel in a day or so - not much more than that, otherwise the cadaver dogs would alert on it. Put a little weight in it and into the large pond - deep in the middle. The police didn't drain all the ponds and it's hard to catch a barrel with a hook drag. Have a few drinks to settle the nerves - wonder which direction John Sr went to search on that first night - anybody notice? Since Eric spent most of his time at the McCormick Farm, why did Joyce go to the Larsfolk home looking for John Jr. - wouldn't it have made more sense the other way? She must have seen Eric's bike at the farm.

Just a thought, but I bet John Sr had a long talk with his brother on his death bed.
 
Thanks for the info, dearmont. It would be good if the police gave the case another go. If, as you suggest, there was a deathbed confession, the brother could now feel comfortable spilling the beans. I wonder if perhaps the motive was a sexual one instead of one of rage at an act of mischief. We'll probably never know.
 
I was researching an unrelated case and came across a new theory about this one on Youtube; a woman who thinks her father is responsible. Entirely circumstantial, it's not a very persuasive allegation, but it's at least worth investigating.

Part 1
Part 2
 
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