Thirty years after her young daughter’s disappearance, Céline Ethier only wants one thing: to be able to lay her child to rest.
On the anniversary of the day her daughter, Mélanie Ethier, mysteriously vanished in the fall of 1996 in what is now called Temiskaming Shores, the grieving mom is making a plea to the person or persons who may be responsible — or those who know something.
“I am asking you to please tell us where her remains are, so I can give her the proper burial she deserves and finally be at peace,” Céline Ethier said in an OPP news release on Tuesday.
“If she was your child,” Ethier adds, “you would want the same thing. Don’t take this to your grave.”
According to provincial police, Mélanie Ethier was 15 years old on Sept. 29, 1996 when she was walking home in the early-morning hours from a friend’s house in the former town of New Liskeard (now Temiskaming Shores). At the time of her disappearance, she had been about one kilometre from her own home.
Based on numerous tips that have come in to police over the years, investigators believe “Mélanie’s last known sighting (to be) on the Armstrong Street Bridge between approximately 1:35 a.m. and 1:50 a.m.”
“We believe there are people who have information about what happened and we encourage them to come forward before it is too late,” said OPP Det.-Insp. Seth Adair. “Your information could be the key to providing answers to Mélanie’s family.”
After Mélanie disappeared, police-led ground and air searches, including water searches along the Wabi River, turned up empty. An OPP video about the case notes investigators found no crime scene for police to scour for possible clues.
Mélanie’s mother, Celine, said when she didn’t find her daughter in her bedroom later the same morning of her disappearance, she assumed she had slept late at her friend’s. She knew something was amiss when Mélanie didn’t show up later that day for an appointment she had for baby-sitting.
“My entire life was altered that day,” Céline Ethier said. “For 30 years, it has felt as though I’ve been holding my breath, waiting for answers and hoping for the day I can finally exhale.”
“Mélanie was my firstborn,” she added, “a beautiful, smart, outgoing and responsible daughter and loving, big sister. Her disappearance has affected my entire family, including my other daughter, as well as Mélanie’s friends.”
A $50,000 reward from the province remains on offer to those who can provide information that could lead to an arrest in Mélanie’s disappearance.
Two large billboards showing Mélanie’s picture and other information about her case are installed in the Temiskaming Shores area on Highway 11: one south of Latchford, and another between Couttsvile and Belle Vallee roads.
“I will never stop searching for the truth,” says Céline Ethier of Mélanie. “My love for her will never die, but since the day she disappeared, a piece of me remains missing.”
“Hope is all we have,” she adds. “I will continue searching for my child until my last breath.”
Anyone with information about the case can contact the OPP by calling 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
