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Do you know anything about these unsolved missing persons and homicide investigations?

"The public’s help, however dated or minimal, may be the crucial link we need to help solve a case."
missing person graphic 2015

City police used a news conference this morning to provide reporters with a brief overview of all of the unresolved missing persons and homicide investigations that detectives have been working diligently trying to solve. BayToday is providing the complete list from the news conference.

A separate story by Chris Dawson on police efforts will follow. See North Bay Police rekindling Cold Cases

And Gravel cold case re-opened

Marie Lugli Corporate Communications Coordinator 

The first question that likely comes to mind is “Why are we doing this?”

  • To keep the cases top-of-mind and to inform the public that we continue to work on them
  • Missing/Murdered Aboriginal Women inquiry is topical; we’ve had requests for info from national media. The NBPS has no case related to this inquiry.
  • Cases of found human remains, like the one we reported in June, are emotional for families of missing persons waiting to hear news of their loved ones.
  • To use the occasion to update http://northbaypolice.ca with latest details on all cases – reference tool for media/public
  • To solicit public’s help in solving cases

Detective Helen Kent 

  • The public’s help, however dated or minimal, may be the crucial link we need to help solve a case and our first goal today is to encourage the public to contact police or Crime Stoppers with any information they may have.
  • We have not ruled out foul play in some of these missing person investigations. In most cases, the disappearances show a marked departure from the missing person’s behaviour. Because so much time has passed, we are not ruling out the fact that we may discover human remains in most of these cases.
  • For missing persons we suspect are deceased, matching found human remains to their case is not easy.
  • The North Bay Police Service is closely following updates on a proposed bill called “Lindsey’s Law” which will be a very helpful tool for police in linking missing person cases to human remains that have been found across Canada.
  • Also, a new DIP3 software program, developed by a forensic dentist from Western University, which matches dental records of missing persons to found human remains is a new tool that the North Bay Police Service is currently exploring and hoping to apply to our missing person cases, where we have dental records.

Summary of Cases

The North Bay Police Service has 13 unsolved missing persons cases, of which:

  • None are missing Indigenous women
  • Two are missing Indigenous men
  • Eight are described as having mental health issues, or were psychiatric patients of the former North Bay Psychiatric Hospital  

The oldest missing person case is 50 years old, while the newest is 5 years old.

The North Bay Police Service continues to work on the one and only unsolved homicide, that of Gaetano (or Guy) Parise.

Guy Parise

May 10th of this year will mark the 30th anniversary of Guy Parise’s murder, who was 50 years old at the time of his death. Parise, and his wife, were attending a wedding at the Davedi Club in North Bay on the night of his death on May 10th 1986. At 11 p.m. that evening, he was seen exiting the front door of the club. His body was located nearby at 5:30 a.m. the next morning. He had succumbed to gunshot wounds.

Luke Joly-Durocher

The fifth anniversary of our most recent missing person case—that of Luke Joly-Durocher—will take place on March 4th. Luke, who was 20 years old at the time of his disappearance, was visiting friends in North Bay from his hometown of Temiskaming, Quebec. Video surveillance showed that he was refused entry from a Main Street restaurant shortly before midnight on that evening in 2011. He left by himself and has not been heard from since.

Russell Hoffert

Russell Hoffert was a voluntary patient of the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital. On April 7th, 2000, at the age of 34, he walked away from the hospital grounds in poor winter-like weather and without being dressed appropriately for the conditions. He has not been seen since.

Brian Henry

Brian Henry was 21 years old at the time of his disappearance on May 5th, 1974.

His father drove him to Canadore College that afternoon at 3 p.m., where Brian had plans to take a walk in the nature trails. He has not been heard from since.

Philippe Guérin

Philippe Guérin went missing from the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital on June 12th, 1966 at the age of 27. It’s been close to 50 years since his disappearance and this investigation is our oldest unsolved missing person case. Philippe, who was paralyzed on his left side after suffering from polio at the age of 10, walked with a limp and would be 77 years old today.

David Allan Chevrier

David Allan Chevrier suffers from schizophrenia and functions at a low intellectual level. At the time of his disappearance on June 22nd, 1994, David was 26 years old. He was last seen at the Centre of Friends on Main Street in North Bay.

Norman Richard Welsh

Norman Richard Welsh, of St. Catharines, Ontario, who was 31 at the time, was on holidays in the North Bay area with his mother at the time. He was admitted to the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital on July 18th, 1976. While on the hospital grounds, he walked away to a nearby wooded area and has not been heard from since.

Brian Joseph Dunlop

Brian Joseph Dunlop was 35 years old at the time of his disappearance on July 4th, 1994. He is known to hitchhike and hop trains. He may have travelled to other locations within Canada.

Terry Anthony Zubko

Terry Anthony Zubko was 18 years old when he disappeared on July 21st, 1982 at 10 a.m. A resident of Sault Ste. Marie, Terry had been a patient of the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital at the time of his disappearance.

Dawn Eva Carisse

At the time of her disappearance close to 15 years ago, on August 9th, 2001, Dawn Eva Carisse was a 43-year old patient of the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital. Dawn had spoken about leaving the hospital to visit her family. It’s possible she attempted to locate her family in the Kirkland Lake or Sudbury areas.

Glen Warren Neil Wesley

Glen Wesley was a patient at the Northeast Mental Health Hospital at the time of his disappearance on September 15th, 2010, his 28th birthday. On that day, Glen was granted permission to leave the facility, and hospital staff believe he went to downtown North Bay. Since his disappearance there have been several unconfirmed sightings in the Cochrane, Timmins and New Liskeard areas.

Walter Charles Westbrook

Walter Charles Westbrook was 69 at the time of his disappearance on September 20th, 1994. He was last seen walking southbound from the Highwayman Restaurant on Highway 11 North, wearing very thick glasses, green work pants, a green jacket and a ball cap. A resident of Charlton, Ontario, Walter suffered from mental health issues.

William Richard Ostertag

William Richard Ostertag disappeared at the age of 45. The last report of his whereabouts was from his brother who last spoke to him on December 16th, 1990. William was reported missing when he failed to show up for his work Christmas party at a fast food restaurant Maplewood Avenue.

Steven Gravel

Detective Constable Scott Buchanan is the investigating officer of the Steven Gravel missing person case.

On October 14th, 2014, out-of-province family members of Steven Hector Gravel contacted the North Bay Police Service to report that they had not heard from Steven in a prolonged period of time.

Through a subsequent investigation, police have learned that Steven, who was 23 years old at the time, was last seen by friends at a residence in North Bay shortly before midnight on December 23rd, 2000. He left the residence in a black 1990 Ford Bronco, which belonged to his stepfather, who died less than two years ago.

After midnight, North Bay Police Service patrol officers observed a suspected impaired male driver in a vehicle matching the description of the Ford Bronco. They tried to initiate a traffic stop at the time, but were unsuccessful.

The Ontario Provincial Police located the abandoned Ford Bronco in the area of Lake Nosbonsing Road, 200 metres east of the highway 11/654 exit in the early morning hours of December 24th, 2000. There was no evidence of injury and the driver appeared to have left the scene on foot. Police were unable to locate the driver at the time. The investigation at the time concluded that Steven Gravel had been operating the vehicle and had taken the vehicle without the owner’s consent.

The North Bay Police Service issued a warrant for Steven’s arrest as a result of the investigation at the time but police were unable to locate him. Police did not receive any report of him being missing until October 2014.

Since the missing person report, police have been following up on all potential leads, however, no confirmed information points to his current whereabouts.

Steven was 23 years old at the time of his disappearance and would be 38 years old today.  He is described as white male, 5’10”, 150-170 pounds, brown hair, long in the back and short on top with hazel eyes.

Steven was last seen wearing a dark coloured winter coat (possibly blue), blue jeans, runners and a baseball cap.

Steven has three tattoos on his back: a gargoyle design in the centre; a baby portrait on his right shoulder; and a dagger with the word “Dad” on his left shoulder.

Other tattoos include the words “Stephanie” and “lucky” on his left forearm; the letter “FTW” on his left upper arm; a wolf head design on his right forearm. On his right upper arm are two tattoos: a teddy bear design; and 2) a heart/wings and sword design.

Steven is originally from Cochrane, Ontario but grew up in North Bay.

He is known to have a passion for fishing, snowmobiling, mountain-biking and socializing with friends. Steven had attended Widdifield Secondary School.

The North Bay Police Service is asking for the public’s assistance in this investigation.

Anyone with information that may assist police is asked to contact Detective Constable Scott Buchanan at the North Bay Police Service at 705-497-5550.

For those who wish to remain anonymous, there are three ways to contact Near North Crime Stoppers. Call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), text the word “Nipper” plus tip information to CRIMES (274637), or submit a tip online at nearnorthcrimestoppers.com.

Ontario's Missing Adults (OMA) is a resource that is available to families of the missing.  In addition to helping to increase awareness by profiling cases of the missing, OMA offers a number of resource documents that families can consult with suggestions on how to deal with issues that may arise when a loved one goes missing.  

Families can also contact Lusia Dion through the website or by phone.

Website:  Ontario's Missing Adults:   www.missingadults.ca
Resource section of OMA:   www.missingadults.ca/resources.php