Canada MELANIE ETHIER: Missing from New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada - 29 September 1996 - Age 15

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Melanie Ethier disappeared on September 29, 1996 from New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada.

edited by staff to add media link
www.crimewatchers.net

MELANIE ETHIER has been missing from New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada since 29 September 1996 - Age 15

The Grade 11 student at Ecole Secondaire Sainte-Marie left a friend's house in the east end of this Northern Ontario town about 02.00 a.m. to walk the six blocks to her home. She was reported missing to the New Liskeard Police later that day.
www.crimewatchers.net www.crimewatchers.net
 
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http://doenetwork.org/cases/1685dfon.html

Melanie Nadia Ethier
Missing since September 29, 1996 from New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada
Classification: Endangered Missing

Date Of Birth: December 25, 1980
Age at Time of Disappearance: 15 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'5'; 120 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Black female. Long braided black hair; brown eyes. Dark complexion. Slender build.
Clothing: Green Nike jacket, blue jeans, white t-shirt with blue heart Pepe logo and black boots.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Ethier was last seen while walking home from the Pine Street East area of New Liskeard, Ontario on September 29, 1996.

The Grade 11 student at Ecole Secondaire Sainte-Marie left a friend's house in the east end of this Northern Ontario town about 02.00 a.m. to walk the six blocks to her home.
She was reported missing to the New Liskeard Police later that day.

A large ground, air and water search of the area where she was last seen failed to yield any clues. Foul play is strongly suspected in this disappearance. Police do not believe that Melanie intended to leave the area voluntarily.
 
http://www.northernlife.ca/news/policea ... 80910.aspx

You know what happened to me'

Around 1:30 a.m., Sept. 29, 1996, Melanie Marie Ethier left a friend's house to walk the kilometre to her New Liskeard home. She hasn't been seen since.

It's been 14 years since the 15-year-old girl went missing, and the Ontario Provincial Police Unsolved Homicide Investigation Team want to know what happened to the girl. A billboard with Ethier, smiling in a school photo, still stands on Hwy. 11 with a message.

"You know what happened to me...so why don't you help?"

New Liskeard is north-east of Greater Sudbury, north of North Bay.

The province has been offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Ethier's disappearance, but the reward has never been claimed.

All investigation done by the former New Liskeard Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police have found no trace of the girl. There is no evidence she left the area on a voluntary basis, and everything police have discovered has led them to believe foul play is involved.

Ethier's disappearance was also featured on Court TV Canada on its program Crime Files: Cold Case Edition.

Information about the reward, the Melanie Ethier investigation, and other missing persons, can be found at www.OPP.ca, or at www.missing-u.ca. A Facebook group, Let's work together to find Melanie Ethier, exists at www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136947720554.

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Melanie Marie Ethier is asked to contact the OPP Temiskaming Detachment at 1-888-310-1122, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
 
http://www.ctvnews.ca/families-long-for ... s-1.576149
Families long for answers for missing loved ones

The missing. They stare out at us from milk cartons, the back of trucks and on posters at the post office. At any one time there are 7,000 people in Canada who have disappeared. Sometimes they are children taken during a custody dispute, many are runaway teens and some are adults creating a new life.

But sometimes it's darker: an abduction or murder.

Few cases reek of foul play more than the mysterious disappearance of Melanie Ethier of New Liskeard, Ont. In 1996, 15-year-old Melanie was a beautiful young woman with a bright future. The teen left a friend's house at 2:00 a.m., for a quick, 10-minute walk to her home. She was alone and was never seen again.


Familes of loved ones who've gone missing for years tell W5 their stories of hope and suffering, with the federal government unlikely or unwilling to make changes to the DNA database that could bring them closure.

Familes of loved ones who've gone missing for years tell W5 their stories of hope and suffering, with the federal government unlikely or unwilling to make changes to the DNA database that could bring them closure.
Melanie Ethier

Melanie Ethier

Celine Ethier, Melanie's mother, says 'still hoping for the one person that knows what happened to come forward.'

Celine Ethier, Melanie's mother, says 'still hoping for the one person that knows what happened to come forward.'
Judy Peterson, whose 14-year-old daughter vanished in 1992 has lobbied for the passage of what has come to be known as Lindsey's Law, which would allow investigators to collect DNA from missing persons or their close relatives and compare it to DNA from crime scenes and unidentified human remains.

Judy Peterson, whose 14-year-old daughter vanished in 1992 has lobbied for the passage of what has come to be known as Lindsey's Law, which would allow investigators to collect DNA from missing persons or their close relatives and compare it to DNA from crime scenes and unidentified human remains.

"I'm still hoping for the one person that knows what happened to come forward," said her mother, Celine Ethier.

But so far there has been nothing but silence. With no crime scene, no witnesses and no body, police are left with few clues. Still, the investigation continues with police following up on 700 tips and 500 witness statements.

Even after all this time there is always hope for resolution. Police told W5 of a small but significant bit of information in the case.

"In recent months and weeks we've received witness information that causes us to believe Melanie actually made it as far as the bridge that crosses the Wabi River, within several hundred yards of her home," announced Det.-Insp. Ken Leppert.

Just one tip that could lead to more clues and move this case forward, and give Melanie's mother Celine a modicum of peace after waiting year after year.

"I'd like to know what happened to her," said Celine, "to have some kind of justice."
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/f ... -1.3087135


A northern Ontario mother hopes social media can help provide tips nearly 20 years after her daughter disappeared.

Celine Ethier's 15-year-old daughter Melanie went missing in New Liskeard in 1996. She was walking home from a friend's house when she disappeared.

On Monday, Facebook announced it would start placing Amber Alerts for missing children in the feeds of Canadian users. The alerts will be targeted by geography and will be easy to share.

"At the time [of Melanie's disappearance], there was no Amber Alert, there was no Facebook," said Ethier. "The police have been very involved in her case since the beginning. It's never been closed. There have always been tips coming in."

Police consider Melanie's case suspicious.

Ethier said she believes social media can help locate her daughter.

"I feel that Facebook, because it is so known to everybody, it's going to give Melanie more exposure," said Ethier. "I am going to get the tip that I need to be able to find her."
 
Celine Ethier
May 26 · Edited
PLEASE DONT TAKE THE INFORMATION I NEED TO YOUR GRAVE .YOUR THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN HELP ME FIND MY CHILD******
My new address is box 2055 / New Liskeard Ontario / P0J 1P0 / IF YOU KNOW WHERE my child MELANIE is PLEASE LET ME KNOW / DONT TAKE THE INFORMATION TO YOUR GRAVE / MELANIE DESERVES TO BE FOUND / AN ARREST IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS FINDING MY CHILD

https://www.facebook.com/groups/136947720554/
 
http://www.nugget.ca/2015/09/29/i-just- ... ody-back-2
RECENT ARTICLE By JENNIFER HAMILTON-MCCHARLES Tuesday, September 29, 2015

"I just want my daughter's body back"

Celine Ethier doesn't want revenge, she just wants her daughter's body back.

For the last 19 years, Ethier has been hoping and praying for answers as to what happened to her 15-year-old year-old daughter Melanie Ethier on Sept. 29, 1996.

“I'm at the point right now when police announce that human remains have been found I want it to be the remains of my child. I just want my daughter's body back,” she told The Nugget in a telephone interview Tuesday morning.

“I strongly believe that my Melanie is dead. I felt that she was gone after the third day she went missing.”

Melanie left a private residence at 2 a.m. on Sept. 29, 1996. She intended to walk a short distance to her home in Temiskaming Shores, but she never made it back home. She was reported missing to police later that day. The case remains open.

Ethier has spent years pleading with the public to provide any information about the whereabouts of her daughter.

She's created social media pages and a billboard with Melanie's picture remains posted along Highway 11 North.

Ethier said she has received plenty of tips from the public and from inside institutions like jails.

Some of the tips have been heart-wrenching.

“I've been told every scenario. I've been told Melanie was put through a wood chipper. I've had tips that she was murdered and the person who did it has died. I've been told to check places where she could be and it leads to a dead-end,” Ethier said.

“I receive messages in the middle of the night from people who say they know where my daughter is and then I've had other people say I will never find her. Unless someone comes forward I believe there is a small chance (I will find her). I just keep trying to push as much as I can. I want to find her. I need to find her.”

Melanie would have been 34 years old.

Ethier has moved since Melanie went missing, but she still holds onto her possessions.

Pieces of her clothing bring back fond memories.

When asked if she ever wonders what kind of woman her daughter would be?, Ethier says, “Melanie could have done whatever she wanted to do. She was that kind of person.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. There is a $50,000 reward for information that leads to arrest or conviction.
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/o ... -1.3293913

Police are not releasing any new information on two unsolved cases in northeastern Ontario, saying it could jeopardize the investigations.

Two years ago, Sheri-Lynn McEwan, 40, was killed in her home in Estaire, Ont., about 30 kilometres southeast of Sudbury. The public doesn't have any more information about what happened the night of Oct. 7, 2013.

Sheri-Lynn McEwan murder remains unsolved, one year later

Missing women featured in oil paintings
Sheri-Lynn McEwan remembered for 'kindness'
Jenny Borton, who was a colleague of McEwen's at the Estaire-Wanup Volunteer Fire Department, says the lack of information is frustrating.

"We're very disappointed that nothing has been found out or nothing's been done yet about it," she said. "You have to go on. People were very scared after it happened, and we haven't learned much more in the meantime, so people just go on with their lives. They have no choice."

Police are also keeping mum on releasing any new information on a 20-year-old missing person case. Melanie Ethier, 15, disappeared while walking home from a friend's house in New Liskeard, Ont., in 1996.

Ontario Provincial Police Det. Insp. Shawn Glassford said the secrecy is necessary to protect privacy and to disprove false confessions.

"The usual thing that police say is protecting the integrity of the investigation and that's true. There's another thing called 'hold back evidence' that we have to keep to ourselves and only a small number of people know details," he said.

"If we start telling people it's no longer hold back [evidence], we lose that vital information that we need to keep secret."

Glassford said investigators regularly get tips about both of these cases. He said they continue to work toward solving them.

Criminologist disagrees

But criminologist Mike Arntfield from the University of Western Ontario said there's no good reason for police to hold back information for years on end. He said it can be counter-productive over time.

"To hold it back for the first two days is good, the first two months perhaps, but two years later? Twenty years later? Forty years later?"

Arntfield said releasing some tidbit of information could lead to new avenues of investigation.
 
Melanie Ethier was last seen walking home in the Pine Street East area of New Liskeard, Ontario on September 29, 1996. The Grade 11 student at Ecole Secondaire Sainte-Marie left a party at a friend's house in the east end of this Northern Ontario town, at about 2:00 AM to walk the six blocks to her home. It should have been a quick, 10-minute walk. Melanie was alone and was never seen again. New Liskeard police received witness information that indicates Melanie made it as far as the bridge that crosses the Wabi River, within several hundred yards of her home. New Liskeard is a summer resort area. After the summer season, the population of the town is small. Melanie probably knew the person who grabbed her.

Wabi River Bridge

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New Liskeard

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http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/anti-racism-da ... le-1441316

Anti-Racism Day 2014: Neglected Cases of Missing Black People

By Ludovica Iaccino
March 21, 2014 15:47


melanie-ethier.jpg



In the early hours of 29 September 1996, Melanie Ethier, 15, left a party at a friend's residence in northeast Ontario to walk home. She has not been seen or heard from since.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), "All evidence and data collected to date would indicate that Melanie Ethier has met with foul play at the hands of person(s) unknown."

A Facebook group, Let's Work Together to Find Melanie Ethier, has over 3,000 members. The fate of the New Liskeard teen remains a mystery.

An art exhibition opened in Ontario called "The Missing Women Project" displays large portraits of 18 missing Ontario women, including Ethier. The portraits were all painted by Toronto artist Ilene Sova.

Sova said the exhibition, which opened in Toronto on March 8, is partially aimed at getting people to talk about how police and media treat women's and men's disappearances differently.
 
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New Liskeard police received witness information that indicates Melanie made it as far as the bridge that crosses the Wabi River, within several hundred yards of her home.
 
http://www.nugget.ca/2011/09/28/melanie ... g-15-years

Ken Leppert is confident the mystery of Melanie Ethier's disappearance can be solved.

The inspector with the Ontario Provincial Police is no longer the investigator in charge of the case. That's been passed on to Det. Sgt. Melissa Barron.

But there have been enough successes solving cold cases in Northeastern Ontario to keep the Ethier case front and centre, Leppert says.

"It remains a priority with the OPP," Leppert says. "This is certainly one we would be very grateful to the public for information on."

Ethier disappeared at about 2 a.m. on Sept. 29, 1996. It was a Sunday morning and the 15-year-old was walking home from a friend's place in New Liskeard.

It was the last time anyone saw her.

**********
At about 2 a.m. on Sept. 29, 1996, 15-year-old Melanie Ethier left a friend's home to walk to her own Pine Street home in New Liskeard.

That was the last time anyone saw the young woman.

At the time she disappeared, Ethier was wearing a green Nike jacket, blue jeans, a white T-shirt with a blue heart "Pepe" logo and black boots.

According to an entry on the Ontario Provincial Police website, "There is no evidence that Ethier left the New Liskeard area on a voluntary basis. All evidence and data collected to date would indicate that Melanie Ethier has met with foul play at the hands of person(s) unknown."

And despite the fact that 15 years has passed, the OPP file remains open.

"There have been officers consistently assigned to this case," says Det. Sgt. Melissa Barron, the officer who now is in charge of the file as part of the OPP's Unsolved Homicide Investigation Team.

"It's certainly very challenging when you don't have any of many physical clues as to what happened," Barron says. "We have a substantial number of statements and tips in the file, and we have established what we believe to be a reliable timeline of Melanie's last hours."

The problem, Barron says, is that the investigation has been underway for so long that anyone who might still have information may not realize its significance.

"Anyone who might have information should call with it. It might be the final missing piece," Barron says.

The former New Liskeard Police Service and the OPP worked the investigation in the early days, but after the formation of Temiskaming Shores, the OPP took over policing in the community - and the file.
 
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