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Nicole Morin Missing Person Case Revived After 29 Years

Toronto Police Revive Missing Person Search, 29 Years Later

Have you seen this girl?

An eight-year-old girl disappeared "without a trace" 29 years ago, after she left her Toronto-area apartment to swim with a friend nearby. Nicole Morin, last seen at 11 a.m. on July 30, 1985, is thought to have been abducted from her Etobicoke, Ont. home.

Det. Sgt. Madelaine Tretter revealed new technologies, social media, and fresh leads prompted the revival of this case, according to the Toronto Star. Despite the fact that the 627 The West Mall complex did not have surveillance footage of Nicole's reported abduction, Toronto police, along with Crime Stoppers, have released a one-minute re-enactment video of her disappearance.

"No trace of Nicole Morin has ever been found," said Tretter, before admitting the police never lost hope prior to re-opening this case. "We do hope that, at the very minimum, that we'll find information as to what happened that day."

At a press conference Thursday morning, Tretter revealed the most recent tip in the Morin case came earlier this year.

For now, it remains unknown as to whether Morin went missing before meeting up with her friend, or if she even made it to her building's elevator. The motive behind who could have taken the eight-year-old — or if she had a familial or social connection to the abductor — also remains a mystery.

As for her family, her mother's final memory of her daughter is a passing goodbye they shared before she left for a swim.

That day, Morin's friend called her mother to let her know they did not, in fact, meet up to go swimming. Morin never made it to the pool that day.

In the re-enactment video, which was uploaded to the Toronto Police Services YouTube channel, the narrator calls the case one of the "most exhaustive and intensive investigations in Canadian history."

The National Post reports nearly 15,000 hours were spent on the investigation to find Morin. A 20-member task force was also formed, and 900 community members were actively involved in the search.

Now, using the hashtag #FindNicole, police, family and Crime Stoppers believe, in some form, the truth is out there.

“Witnesses may remember something they saw that can assist investigators," Toronto Crime Stoppers’ co-ordinator Chris Scherk told the Toronto Star. "Also, criminals talk. They brag, and they confess. My belief is someone out there may know what happened to Nicole Morin in 1985 and for whatever reason feels like they can’t come forward.”

Police are not yet treating this case as a homicide, and say there is no evidence that would suggest Morin has died.

Born on April 1, 1977, Morin would be 37 today. When she was last seen, she had brown hair, stood at four feet tall, weighed approximately 51 pounds, and had a gap in between her teeth. Police have yet to release a rendering of what Morin would look like today.

Back on July 3, CityNews aired a profile on Morin's disappearance, where Det.-Const. Kim Litster-MacLeod said, "She's out there somewhere."

"If it takes the rest of my career to keep looking for her, then that's what will happen."

Jason Ellis

Missing People

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