Norman Welsh left the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital on July 19th, 1976 and has never been seen since.
Welsh, who was 31 years old at the time, is among the 13 missing persons cold cases the North Bay Police Service continues to investigate.
The St. Catharines, Ontario native was vacationing in Sturgeon Falls with his Mother when the OPP found him walking along the highway near that town on July 18th, 1976. Concerned for his safety the police brought him to the local hospital where he was transferred to the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital.
“OPP intercepted him on the highway and with him being taken to Sturgeon Falls... and was assessed by a physician, the determination was then made at that time that he needed to go for further assessment up at the psychiatric hospital,” said North Bay Police Detective Constable Scott Buchanan.
Police say Welsh was upset and demanded to be released and insisted he just wanted to go home to St. Catharines.
“I do know from there that there was a plan and intention when he was at the psychiatric hospital and being from the St. Catharines area, that the intention was by the hospital to have him transferred down closer to home and unfortunately they never did get to make those arrangements to have Norman transported before he went missing,” stated Buchanan.
On the morning of the 19th, nursing staff at the hospital escorted Welsh outside between hospital buildings, from where he proceeded to walk eastbound towards a wooded area of the hospital grounds.
Welsh was last seen running towards the bush area.
Welsh is described as:
- Caucasian;
- 6’ tall (183 cm), 141 lbs (64 kg), slim build;
- short brown hair;
- hazel eyes;
- dark complexion; and
- with a surgical scar on his head that is covered by his hair.
At the time of his disappearance, Welsh was wearing:
- a very dark and checked double knit pair of blue & grey pants
- a black & white checked shirt
- slippers
It is believed he had $14 in his possession.
Welsh required medication for epilepsy. He was known to have seizures and there was concern he would have difficulty recovering from a seizure on his own.
At the time of his disappearance, North Bay Police and hospital staff conducted several searches of the hospital grounds. They were unsuccessful.
Buchanan says only a few tips have been sent in about Welsh’s disappearance. He feels many times they receive information from people who attempt to cross reference missing person databases through the various missing person websites to try and assist the investigations.
“There are no new leads at this time that we are able to pursue and as an investigator that can certainly be frustrating because it limits our abilities to go down other investigative avenues to determining what happened to Norman,” Buchanan said about Welsh who would be 71 years old today.
“As the years have progressed it has become difficult in order to do that.”
Welsh's lone surviving relative is his brother who was unable to attend Thursday’s missing persons press conference which involved the disappearances of both Norman Welsh and Terry Zubko.
See the Zubko story here: https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/family-wants-more-answers-after-son-disappeared-34-years-ago-today-342161
