CANADA Canada - Nicole Morin, 8, Toronto, 30 July 1985

[photographer4]

Riddle me this:

If you look at the obit for Jeanette Morin, who died in 2007, Nicole is NOT mentioned. The obit mentions her son from a prior relationship who was several years older than Nicole and who according to the news article I linked in my last post, was taken away from Jeanette and raised by his father. Jeanette’s obit indicates she will be missed by THREE unnamed grandchildren.

If you look at the obit for her son (he died AFTER Jeanette in 2013), it states Nicole as his sister. It also names his TWO daughters.

This point begs the question: who is the third grandchild mentioned in Jeanette’s obit??? Did she have another child of her own with someone who went on to have a child before Jeanette died (so as to be mentioned in her obit?). Who is this third mystery grandkid!? This seems an unlikely error to me. And further, the son named one of his kids after his mother so surely he would have known how many grandchildren she actually had if* he wrote or was consulted about the obit for her???

 

[jaycool]

Hey Photo', some great posts.

When you say Facebook group do you mean the "Find Nicole" one? I looked at this page a while back but did not find much information on there but chances are a lot of things that come up on there have likely been taken down at some point. I noticed on there and other forums/groups there are some people who think the key to the case is something or someone from the past.

I have noticed this obit' detail before and it has made me wonder if something is there that I'm not seeing, some meaning within the detail.
I am not the most streetwise person here but an obituary is like a death certificate correct?

Would it be fair to argue that Jeanette Morin did not view Nicole to be her own daughter? Could that be the reason she was not on the obit?
What would usually be the reason someone is not mentioned in their Obit'? Is there any reason for someone to do that?

As for the third grandchild good question, perhaps we could get some more clarity on that, as you said why would he make that error in a statement?
Could she be referring to a grandchild associated with Art's side of the family? Although they did divorce so lawfully that would not make sense.

If someone saw the friend on that station on tv waiting in the lobby perhaps they could guess Nicole might be on her way down shortly? Maybe the kids had a bit of a routine going? Every day they’d meet in the lobby around the same time? If a tv system to mind the lobby existed there as it surely must have - that might have made stalking her or any other tenant super easy.

I am of the same thinking that this person "planned" this to a degree, got an idea of her routine, i mean it could be the perp saw her collect the mail that morning only or it could also be the perp saw her collecting mail several days a week which likely became a new habit as Nicole had finished school, probably saw her with the friend going to the pool, maybe even saw Nicole alone on some occasions.

I would never have thought they had a tv system that watched the lobby area in the 80s, its a possibility, creepy if true. Nicole definitely had more exposure to people who were coming in/out the building during the summer break, given all the free time she had she would have spent a lot of time by the lobby and pool.

I do think the perp was likely trusted by Nicole hence no noise including none of her belongings being found, her shoe/s supposedly found but nothing else which baffles me. Otherwise the perp probably lurked in the shadows, i think the chances of the "perp" just randomly bumping into Nicole in the hallway just when Nicole started to use the elevator on her own are slim for sure.

I have read somewhere Nicole was only just starting to go down to the lobby alone because she was too short previously to press the elevator button.
She had supposedly just become tall enough to reach the button on her own. Perhaps once that happened any friends who may have previously met her at her apartment stopped doing so.

There is mention of Nicole living in Amherst NS previously, someone posted the Morin's lived there then returned to Ontario, the idea i am getting from all of this is Nicole had only been back in Toronto for a few months (April to July) before her disappearance, very short space of time.

Jmo.

 

[jaycool]

Hi all,

I've been holding back a good few weeks on this but i found a picture of someone a while back who i thought might be Nicole,
i put it off due to thinking i was wrong about it but kept the photo in case i changed my mind.. i didn't want to feel silly about sharing it..

The person in the photo looks too young to be her which put me off sharing it, HOWEVER having thought about it, I said to myself
"how old is this photo?". If the photo is ten or more years old then it could possibly be her, why not? The person looks later 20s.

The person has a similar face, nose, eyes, but not enough that you would immediately think they were the same person but when i looked
long enough I noticed similar facial features and even the expression is similar. The person's hair is darker brown though and skin possibly olive.

The question i have whom do i send this photograph to? I dont know this person personally, i just so happened
to come across this photograph by complete accident but i think facial recognition software could get an idea of comparison.

If the picture is out there and easy to find then surely someone else has probably seen it before and reported it so it would not surprise
me if someone else already has done so and nothing came of it.

The person in the photo looks quite a bit like one of the age enhanced pictures, the sepia looking one with the fringe that is supposed to
be her at 17 years old. For obvious reasons i cant post this person's photo here. I would be absolutely delighted if it was her though.

Cheers

 

[photographer4]

Timeline.

Reading the original news articles from August 1, 1985 Toronto Star. The waiting friend watched the elevator go to the penthouse level twice. It made several stops but was empty on return to the lobby. So to me, they probably timed the trip from penthouse to lobby then times it by two and add a few mins to get the fifteen minutes spent waiting by the friend. It’s nauseating. I’d wager someone grabbed the girl right off the elevator and hit random buttons to ensure it stopped a few times before hitting the lobby. Id wager it was the first elevator to P when she was grabbed and someone sent it to other floors and hit the call again to make it go back to P.

Also LE searched everywhere in and around the building and by two days in, mom is quoted as being sure the child was dead.

 

[photographer4]

According to the Toronto Star at least two commercial companies make deliveries to the building at that time....

 

[photographer4]

I’m reading more of the original news articles. I wonder who they thought might have her? Mom made a plea in media to whoever took her within days of the disappearing. It almost sounds like she might be apologizing to someone. I’ll post link if I can soon.

 

[photographer4]

I can’t link the articles as I’m using a library card to access them, but the Toronto Star sure makes interesting reading. An article dated aug 4, 1985 states searchers who had been looking in a 7sq mike radius of Etobicoke...brought in some evidence. It seems to have changed the focus of the search.

Sergeant Cullen Smith of 22 Division was quoted as saying: “we anticipate in a very short time - and I mean within days - locating the young lady.”

They didn’t state what the evidence was. I wonder what they found!? Maybe this was the bag of clothes and article about Nicole that was found at or near Pearson Airport??

(Toronto Star, Aug 4, 1985. Authors: Peter Cheney & Jonathan Ferguson).

 

[photographer4]

On August 17, 1985 there was a newspaper article In the Toronto Star which indicated that three men had been arrested and charged with conveying false messages and harassment.

The three-man arrested were ARTHUR Cecil McRitchie - 65 of Featherstone Dr., Mississauga, Robert Wayne Walker 18 of Morningside Avenue in Scarbrough, and Ronald Joseph Crawford 28 of Tobermory Drive in North York.

The first man told police a body was buried behind some homes in Peel Region. Police launched a huge search but no evidence was found.

The second man, was found after police traced his call. He told police he had kidnaped the child and would call later with ransom demands.

The third man advised he had taken Nicole. When they checked his name their files showed he also told police a year earlier that he had abducted Christine Jessop.

Source: Toronto Star, August 17, 1985.
A8, author: Cal Millar.

 

[MrsThreadgoode]

I can’t link the articles as I’m using a library card to access them, but the Toronto Star sure makes interesting reading. An article dated aug 4, 1985 states searchers who had been looking in a 7sq mike radius of Etobicoke...brought in some evidence. It seems to have changed the focus of the search.

Sergeant Cullen Smith of 22 Division was quoted as saying: “we anticipate in a very short time - and I mean within days - locating the young lady.”

They didn’t state what the evidence was. I wonder what they found!? Maybe this was the bag of clothes and article about Nicole that was found at or near Pearson Airport??

(Toronto Star, Aug 4, 1985. Authors: Peter Cheney & Jonathan Ferguson).

Thank you so very much for all the information you have been posting. I had long since forgotten so much of what you are sharing. I am very grateful for all your time and effort.


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[photographer4]

I can’t link the articles as I’m using a library card to access them, but the Toronto Star sure makes interesting reading. An article dated aug 4, 1985 states searchers who had been looking in a 7sq mike radius of Etobicoke...brought in some evidence. It seems to have changed the focus of the search.

Sergeant Cullen Smith of 22 Division was quoted as saying: “we anticipate in a very short time - and I mean within days - locating the young lady.”

They didn’t state what the evidence was. I wonder what they found!? Maybe this was the bag of clothes and article about Nicole that was found at or near Pearson Airport??

(Toronto Star, Aug 4, 1985. Authors: Peter Cheney & Jonathan Ferguson).

A follow up article days later says the item was a green headband however Nicole’s mom said it wasn’t Nicole’s.

 

[photographer4]

Thank you so very much for all the information you have been posting. I had long since forgotten so much of what you are sharing. I am very grateful for all your time and effort.


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Oh! You are more than welcome! I am confident the answer was there and somehow it was missed. The police did so many searches of the buildings - 5 as of August 1985 that I’ve read about so far and these included looking twice in every possible place even a review of the blueprints for the building. I don’t think this was a family member so far. I think someone saw her in the hallway and grabbed her or took her off the elevator sending it to various floors by hitting a few random floor numbers. Probably even recalled it back to Penthouse level.

 

[jaycool]

Some great posts and references here. They inspired me to post.

The mother Jeanette thinking her child was dead did grab my attention, i looked at this one of two ways, she has an idea of the person whom might have took her and that person isn't a "good" person, or she was a realist. Or perhaps someone close to her in the case based on initial evidence told her the chances are high that she will be found deceased.

One could argue that with her son from the previous marriage coming back she would be a bit more hopeful and positive but perhaps she had reasons for this that aren't known to us.

Per the green headband I am thinking the mother would remember what Nicole's head band looked like if she wore it a lot, while trusting the mother makes sense there is another angle here; one could argue a lot of people dont wear green head bands and people rarely drop a "green headband" on the ground, then coincidentally this item being found days later in a nearby area gives it some importance.

In one instance it seems like a red herring but in another it seems like a bizarre coincidence given the timing of her disappearance. Was it placed by someone to lead/mislead, thats another thing.

Regarding the bag and newspaper found near to the airport, the feeling i get is that it was not important in the end but i wish there was more information on them, why they were there and why they think it might be important to the case. I suspect the reason was that a suspect or POI (earlier in the case) may have been in this area following the time of the abduction.

As for those 3 men being arrested, all i can say is wow, i had not heard of this until now. Hope someone can post the link. What would motivate 3 different people to go as far as making that up? I really dont get people sometimes.. probably attention seeking and a desire for money. I am assuming all were checked through lie detectors?

If these 3 people were connected to each other then i would be more inclined to think something was there that needed looking at but it sounds like they were just wasting police time. I have seen people contemplate that the person who took and murdered Christine Jessop may have also been involved with Nicole's disappearance, possibly this is where those thoughts originated.

I think a delivery person of certain goods could certainly have been hanging around the lobby that morning for sure and seen Nicole as she got the mail, very possible.

If they checked the building 5 times wow, I would too like to think something was missed and that there is still a chance to open this case up. I am of the thinking Nicole did not die on the premises, I think she was taken elsewhere alive, what happened after this is anyone's guess. However a detail about cologne being sprayed on one of the floors could've been someone trying to hide the scent of decomposition.

I would like to think dogs will not be fooled by cologne or it covering up the smell of decomposition from them, i may very well be wrong though.

I would like to see if i can see what you are seeing regarding the mother seeming apologetic, sounds interesting. Jmo. Cheers

 

[Giuc0]

Hi all,

I've been holding back a good few weeks on this but i found a picture of someone a while back who i thought might be Nicole,
i put it off due to thinking i was wrong about it but kept the photo in case i changed my mind.. i didn't want to feel silly about sharing it..

The person in the photo looks too young to be her which put me off sharing it, HOWEVER having thought about it, I said to myself
"how old is this photo?". If the photo is ten or more years old then it could possibly be her, why not? The person looks later 20s.

The person has a similar face, nose, eyes, but not enough that you would immediately think they were the same person but when i looked
long enough I noticed similar facial features and even the expression is similar. The person's hair is darker brown though and skin possibly olive.

The question i have whom do i send this photograph to? I dont know this person personally, i just so happened
to come across this photograph by complete accident but i think facial recognition software could get an idea of comparison.

If the picture is out there and easy to find then surely someone else has probably seen it before and reported it so it would not surprise
me if someone else already has done so and nothing came of it.

The person in the photo looks quite a bit like one of the age enhanced pictures, the sepia looking one with the fringe that is supposed to
be her at 17 years old. For obvious reasons i cant post this person's photo here. I would be absolutely delighted if it was her though.

Cheers

Contact the Toronto Police or Crimestoppers Toronto.

 

[jaycool]

Contact the Toronto Police or Crimestoppers Toronto.

Hi Giuc0 thanks for letting me know.

Will update once i get home later and have heard back from them.

Fingers crossed.

 

[photographer4]

According to yet another article I read in the Toronto Star Archives... Jeanette returned to providing in home daycare services a week after Nicole vanished. I am shocked to learn this!! I had no idea!! The article indicated that she and Art were married 12 years before Nicole came, but apart two years when she vanished, and embroiled in a bitter court case over child support payments. He moved back in with her for awhile after she vanished because he felt Jeanette had hidden her away somewhere. According to the article Jeanette felt HE had done something with the child to hide her. This article states that her older son was taken to California and raised there by his father, and only saw his mother now and then. This is all just so unreal!

I'm also now wondering - if you were a parent, and this happened to your daycare provider, would YOU return your kids to Jeanette's care? I cannot say that I would have!!

SOURCE:
Page D1. (1988, Jul 24). Toronto Star, Author: Elaine Carey

EDITED TO ADD:
I noticed an inconsistency while doing more research. In everything else I've read about this case, it was always widely reported that Jeanette first began wondering about Nicole around 3pm.

Everything I have read indicated she couldn't go look for the child herself as she had a daycare, and couldn't leave her kids. Even in the article cited above, it states she had two babies and couldn't leave til they were picked up. The article above states another boy came in at about 3pm and hadn't seen Nicole. Its not noted who he was or who asked if he'd seen her, or how he'd have known Nicole. But this article I'm reading now (which I'll cite below), clearly states Jeanette went to the pool HERSELF at 3pm to get her daughter and she wasn't there.

Tell me, how is it possible that she couldn't go out to look for her daughter earlier, or before 6pm considering all the kids in her care, but she DID go out out at 3pm to the pool and her daughter was not there??

SOURCE: Page A6. (1995, Jul 30). Toronto Star, Author: Cal Millar

 

[photographer4]

So in 1987, a woman named Wendy Lee Howard was murdered inside her condo at the same building where Nicole had lived. She had changed her locks just days before the murder. The victim was a divorced mother of two and had planned to move to a less expensive building not too far away. At the scene, police found messages written though they didn't specify what they said. The police removed a mirror and other furniture from the scene. She was found by her former boyfriend Jeff Bridges and at the time of the article, police had no clear suspect or motive. Victim was fully clothed and no signs of sexual assault. Another resident was reported to have indicated she HOPED it wasn't connected to Nicole's case. I don't yet know if the police were able to link the two cases or not... but I'll keep researching...

SOURCEage A2. (1987, May 05). Toronto Star, Author: Peter Edwards

So I followed this possible lead up to learn that she and Mr. Bridges were breaking up and he was moving out. He found her body but wasn't the accused. The accused was a "friend" named Martin Charles Miller... who stated she had wanted to kill herself, and then asked him to do it for her. He denied having helped her and gave police a few different stories....

SOURCEage A24. (1989, Apr 26). Toronto Star, Author: Wendy Darroch

 

[photographer4]

Just a thought. With things like Ancestry DNA and 23andme becoming so popular, I wonder if LE would consider running the DNA of missing persons to see if any of them have created DNA profiles online anywhere? Maybe some missing persons don’t even know they are kidnap victims / missing persons? I wonder if this could potentially help solve some mysterious disappearances?

 

[MrsThreadgoode]

Just a thought. With things like Ancestry DNA and 23andme becoming so popular, I wonder if LE would consider running the DNA of missing persons to see if any of them have created DNA profiles online anywhere? Maybe some missing persons don’t even know they are kidnap victims / missing persons? I wonder if this could potentially help solve some mysterious disappearances?

This is an excellent idea ... I have thought of similar things regarding all the personal DNA services that are offered these days.

It would be interesting to hear some lawyers’ thoughts about this. I am not sure about all the legalities and/or privacy issues.


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[photographer4]

This is an excellent idea ... I have thought of similar things regarding all the personal DNA services that are offered these days.

It would be interesting to hear some lawyers’ thoughts about this. I am not sure about all the legalities and/or privacy issues.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

While I’m unclear about the legalities or using a victim’s DNA in the manner suggested, I am aware that LE recently used the DNA from a crime scene to help them find the perp. I believe the DNA led them to his relatives and it was easy to spot the criminal from there. I think this is a brilliant use of the DNA genealogy databases and had long thought they should employ them in this manner.

Jumping off that thought, I wonder how many victims might be located in this way? Madeleine McCain perhaps? Or any you heater gone missing or abducted by a family member who may not even realize their own circumstances.

That said, knowing it could be used in that way make make people less inclined to use the genealogy DNA sites. Catch 22.

 

[jaycool]

Bump.

Having submitted my tip to Toronto Crime stoppers etc i never did hear back from them, that was over a month ago.

Toronto Police said they would pass me onto the right people but i never received any contact.

I am not sure if that means my tip was deemed unimportant, it was ignored or if they are still looking at it. Strange.