A 50-year-old missing person investigation was rekindled today at North Bay Police headquarters.
On June 12th, 1966, 27-year-old Philippe Guerin walked out of the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital located on Highway 11 and was never seen again.
No clues, only one lead that a clergyman had possibly picked up a hitchhiker that met his description as a 5’7” man with a medium build, dark hair, no upper teeth and walked with a limp due to polio which he had suffered since childhood.
This lead met with negative results. Widdifield Police, who were in charge of the investigation back in 1966, were never able to locate Philippe and the investigation, now with the North Bay Police Service, remains unsolved.
“I think the biggest thing is it's been 50 years and we really don't know anything else other than him leaving the hospital,” stated Detective Constable Roger Drolet.
“He basically just walked away and vanished.”
Three members of Guerin’s family were at the media conference which took place at North Bay Police headquarters on Monday morning.
Dora Guerin, his sister-in-law, was en route to North Bay to tell Philippe she was going to marry his brother Omar. But when they arrived at the hospital she says he was gone and hasn’t been seen since.
She says Philippe’s disappearance has been hard on the family and was hardest for his Mother and Father, who have both since passed away.
“It was hard for them dying and not knowing what happened to their son. There was never closure,” said Dora who now lives with her husband in Newcastle, Ontario.
“Now there are only five (brothers) left and the older ones are in their 80’s. They would like to know what happened to their brother.”
Drolet, the lead investigator in the Police Service’s oldest cold case, says finding new leads from something that happened so long ago is extremely challenging.
“We get the odd e-mail or tip from people who are interested in the missing cases that go on the missing persons websites and they ask us to compare one case to another. Got a tip like that two years ago,” said Drolet.
“In this case, it had already been compared but we always welcome any information that comes in that will help us out.
“Philippe would be 77 years old today. The people at the hospital, staff at the time, many have passed on, so it’s very difficult to get any more information.”
Anyone with information that may assist police with this investigation is asked to contact Detective Constable Roger Drolet at the North Bay Police Service by telephone at 705-497-5555. For those who wish to remain anonymous, there are three ways to contact Near North Crime Stoppers: call 1-800-222- 8477, or visit nearnorthcrimestoppers.com for information on how to submit an anonymous tip by text or online.
