CANADA Canada - Florence Pearse, 69, West Dalhousie, NS, 14 Nov 2005

WhyaDuck?

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Hello, Sleuths.

While discussing this forum with my mum the other day, I admitted that a lot of my participation here is to make me feel a bit better about not being able to help in the case of my own late, beloved aunt, Florence, who went missing in 2005. My mother then suggested that if I feel so strongly about the talents of the people on here that we give the forum a chance to dig into our case.

I will begin the story by noting that neither I nor the LE suspect foul play in this case. It is very likely my aunt died on her daily walk. However, all that anyone has been able to find is one of her feet, and, though we are grateful to have some evidence for closure, the whereabouts of her other remains (which I believe will be found eventually), and what exactly happened in the investigation are still a mystery for us. My father, who just turned 70, still wonders, and worries he'll never have full closure on this before he dies.

I will place info here in pieces in posts, so as to not have to lump everything up in one long rambling narrative. But, I will note what exactly we need from you.

My aunt's case is really very cold, and I am sure there's no "solving" it, really. However, putting the details on here has a three-fold purpose:

1) To share our story, and to give my aunt the investigation she deserves.
2) To find as many LE and media records we can dig up.
3) To press forward to find the rest of her remains so she can have a proper burial, as her sons decided not to have a full funeral for just a foot.

So, basically, I need people who are better than navigating records than I am. I will try to unfold as much information as possible, and I am hoping you might help.

Thank you!
H.
 
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2005

"West Dalhousie Road."

From today’s Halifax Chronicle Herald:

ANNAPOLIS WOMAN STILL MISSING

BRIDGETOWN — Annapolis RCMP have had no luck in their search for a missing woman. Searchers have been looking for 69-year-old Florence Pearse of West Dalhousie in Annapolis County since Nov. 15. She was last seen walking along West Dalhousie Road the previous day.

Tracking dogs and searchers have found no sign of her. Police say there are no indications of foul play in her disappearance.

Police say they plan another public appeal for information next week, including releasing a photo of the woman to try to jog the memory of anyone who might have seen her.


***

My father’s sister, Florence, has now been missing for five weeks. The police searched the woods for a week with no luck, and they have called it off. They say they’ll look again for her body in the spring. We don’t know what happened to her, or even if she actually is dead. My father continues to search. This is pretty much the worst thing that’s happened to my family in decades.

My aunt was/is not a well woman. Besides being 69 she is/was a schizophrenic and has good and bad days. Still, she was kind to me, and always sent me birthday cards. She always asked for news of me, and she really loved me. She always had me to stay with her when I was home. The thought that she may have froze to death in the woods alone is horrible… Other alternatives are just unthinkable right now.

The really stunning part is that no one told me. Knowing that she and I were fond of one another, my mother, who is notoriously bad in crisis situations, didn’t want to tell me. She was afraid it would interfere with my school term, or that I would break down or something. My brother called me and inadvertently mentioned it, thinking, naturally, that someone would have told me. (Yes, you’d think so, wouldn’t you?) He called my mum, who called me and cried that she was sorry, but that it was all too horrible… She wanted to wait to tell me when they had some sort of news, she said.

Yes, well, all I know is that I sent one of my favourite aunts a holiday card last week, possibly four weeks after she was already dead.

So, my term papers are done, but I’m not much in a chipper mood right now. My mind just keeps going back to those woods.


NOTE: This article has since been either removed to archives or taken off the site. I republish it here because it is not available anywhere else, except my original blog post. I will remove it (and replace with a summary) immediately if asked.
 
Anonymous said...
I am also apolegetic for your possible loss, but also outraged.
THe information you and your family is not entirely true, i livein the area and can tell you that the search for your aunt did not last a week. im not sure if they looked for her at all.
Recently a piece of a body was found (sorry about the details) and it is believed to possibly be your aunts. The search then started again for a day!
and they were going to wait, yet again. although i think citizens wouldnt allow them to call it off. The police have been irresponsible with your aunts case. i do not believe that they have used any of their resources to find her or her body. I am very sorry for your loss but as a resident of west dalhousie i am disappointed in the lack of patients and caring in the case.

1/09/2006 2:19 PM
 
SATURDAY, JANUARY 07, 2006

"Even if you study a thing, you’re never quite prepared…"

I was in forensics, and I studied some pretty gruesome case files, but one is never ready to see it in one’s own family…

Partial remains have been found in the woods where my aunt disappeared. They have yet to be identified because they were scattered by animals, but the police are looking into whether they were once her.
 
rob1-1.jpg

Florence Pearse (1936-2005?)

Name: Florence Pearse (also used to go by her married name Florence Feener, but changed it back after her divorce)

Description: My aunt was 69 at the time of her disappearance, and was quite tall, and very gaunt, with curly (or permed) dark and grey hair. No one seems to recall exactly what she was wearing at the time of her disappearance, but I am looking into this further. She was a smoker, and quite an active talker.

Last seen: By my uncle, Jeff Pearse, walking along West Dalhousie Road near her home in West Dalhousie, near Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada in the afternoon of November 14, 2005. Friends say it was her habit to walk in the area daily. There was no activity on her bank account after this day, and she was without her truck and its keys, according to her friends. Florence was a late-diagnosed schizophrenic, but was on medications that my parents say were working well, though she did have relapses. My parents also think she was also an off-and-on-again heavy drinker, though I never actually saw her drink.

The search: The Annapolis RCMP and local LE told my parents they searched for a week from Nov 15, but that there was no sign of her, so they stopped looking. The feeling was that Florence was "troubled" and had not made friends of local LE, especially since her diagnoses and her issues with her ex-husband. They told my parents they would put up posters and/or publicize her photo, but they never actually contacted my parents to get the photo they asked for, and none was ever posted to my parents' knowledge. In January 2006, one foot was located, which was identified as belonging to my aunt (though my parents are not sure how this was done, as they do not know of any DNA sample taken - though they might have collected from her sons, my parents aren't clear on this). My aunt was declared dead, and the death was ruled as accidental. The LE searched for one more day, according to reports, but then called the search off due to heavy snow in the woods off West Dalhousie Road, where the foot was found. It was estimated that she had been dead since she went missing, and that the dislocation of her limb was due to animal activity. (I have no further details on the foot, or whether it was still in its shoe.) I believe it has since been cremated. The LE said they would resume their search in the spring of 2006, but they did not. No further remains were located, and my parents have received no further updates on her case.

I am trying to find some exact idea of the geography of the case, and will update when/if I have further information.
 
And, yes, I did indeed have an "Aunt Flo." Believe me, that was a joke she enjoyed very much.

I still miss her.
 
November 14, 2005: Seen walking by her brother on West Dalhousie Road.

November 15, 2005: Deemed "Missing" by local LE.

November 15 - 22?, 2005: Search, turns up with nothing.

January 1, 2006: A single foot is found in the woods off West Dalhousie Road.

Early January 2006: One day (?) of searching for remains near the reported foot.

Sometime in January 2006: Recovered foot is deemed to belong to Florence, and she is declared dead due to accidental causes. Case is closed, and no further details are given.
 
Question: If they did indeed use search dogs, why did they not come up with the foot? Where they simply completely in the wrong area? If that is the case, why did they never hit the right place in a solid week?

The area is a relatively well-hunted place, I think - why have no hunters turned anything up? Suggests remains hidden in a crevice, ditch or grave, or possibly under shelter (which points to the idea that she might have gone for cover for some reason).
 
Possible CODs:

Foul Play:
This has been ruled out by LE, however it is known that she was a thorn in the side of her ex-husband and his family; there is also a slight possibility of hit-and-run and/or random violence. She had no other enemies to my knowledge.

Suicide:
This is not a great possibility, since she showed signs of neither extreme depression nor extreme happiness before she went missing. She was also not known to be suicidal. However, mental health issues does warrant some consideration of this possibility.

Accidental Death:
The deep snow in the woods would have made walking quite uncomfortable, so it is unknown as to what inspired her to leave the road for the woods, if she did (which is suggested by the implied placement of partial remains in the woods - since the search was called off due to snow). Note: She was not walking a dog. It is possible she went into the woods and tripped, etc, possibly spraining an ankle or hitting her head, trapping her in the woods to freeze. There are no major predatory animals in these woods.

Natural Causes:
Florence was extremely healthy for a 69-year-old smoker, but strokes do run in the family, so it is likely she could have had a sudden death in the woods. This and accidental death are the leading theories in this case.


The question still remains as to why she left the road.
 
I'm a bit confused. How did they decide that the remains found were your Aunt's if no real DNA testing was done? I know you mentioned your parents weren't sure, but some family member of her's must have that postive result. There should be records of this and at the very least, I'm guessing, available to family members.
Your Aunt walked the same path all the time. I find it odd that in 24-36 hours she was still missing. If she had a stroke, which for the sake of argument is possible, she still would have been found along the familar areas that all knew she would walk. I hate to say thism, but it seems that LE drop a ball here. This case makes no sense as you have shared it.

I am so very, very sorry for this heart loss, Pearseha. How hard this must be for you. (((hugs)))
 
Thanks to Paintr, who seems to be able to figure out how to resurrect blogs, one that had been closed has unearthed a small post on my aunt from January 5, 2006, in which the blogger (who I won't identify, since he/she has removed the blog) states that it was Annapolis Search and Rescue who was searching at this time for further remains after a snowmobile driver found a foot on a backwood snowmobile trail on New Year's Day. This is great, as it gives me new info on where the foot was found - my folks never knew who had found the foot, or exactly where.

Thanks SO MUCH Paintr for sending me this post - it's amazing, this Google cache. I wonder how it's done? I had found this post in Google, but could never get past the "this blog no longer exists."

Thanks again. My dad will be interested to learn this.
 
I'm a bit confused. How did they decide that the remains found were your Aunt's if no real DNA testing was done? I know you mentioned your parents weren't sure, but some family member of her's must have that postive result. There should be records of this and at the very least, I'm guessing, available to family members.
Your Aunt walked the same path all the time. I find it odd that in 24-36 hours she was still missing. If she had a stroke, which for the sake of argument is possible, she still would have been found along the familar areas that all knew she would walk. I hate to say thism, but it seems that LE drop a ball here. This case makes no sense as you have shared it.

I am so very, very sorry for this heart loss, Pearseha. How hard this must be for you. (((hugs)))

Yes, I do think the LE dropped the ball a bit. I phoned my mum and forced her into a longer interview (she was kind of bowled over at me going from daughter to investigator, but she pulled through), and will be posting the transcript when I get the chance to type it up.

Long and the short of it is she does think it is possible that DNA tests were done, and does say that it was "for sure" her foot. As there was life insurance involved, I'd say that DNA must have been done.

I am fairly certain there was another comment left on my blog somewhere around that time... I still have to find it.
 
Pearseha have you thought about asking someone to do a forensic astrology chart for this case?
 
Thanks to Paintr, who seems to be able to figure out how to resurrect blogs, one that had been closed has unearthed a small post on my aunt from January 5, 2006, in which the blogger (who I won't identify, since he/she has removed the blog) states that it was Annapolis Search and Rescue who was searching at this time for further remains after a snowmobile driver found a foot on a backwood snowmobile trail on New Year's Day. This is great, as it gives me new info on where the foot was found - my folks never knew who had found the foot, or exactly where.

Thanks SO MUCH Paintr for sending me this post - it's amazing, this Google cache. I wonder how it's done? I had found this post in Google, but could never get past the "this blog no longer exists."

Thanks again. My dad will be interested to learn this.

You are very welcome, Pears. Wish it could have been more.
 
Pearseha have you thought about asking someone to do a forensic astrology chart for this case?

No, I hadn't. I am not entirely sure about the times of day involved, though, and I thought that would make a difference?
 
This is very sad and I agree that it does not sound like LE followed it through.

How far did your aunt typically walk? I would imagine that it would be very cold in NS at that time of year and as you mentioned due to the deep snow off the road she couldn't have waded off too far. I am trying to judge how much area LE would have had to search.

When you said she was a "thorn in the side of her ex-husband and his family" what do you mean by this? And what was their reaction (if any or known) did they have in regards to her disappearance. Are any of them in LE??

It really is not that long ago - colder cases have been solved through perseverence by family members. I hope it is true in this case as well.

I am not sure how you came to join WS but maybe its fate!
 

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