Melanie Ethier has been missing for over 25 years. Someone knows something. But no one is talking.
Melanie Nadia “Mel” Ethier was born on December 25th, 1980. She was the daughter of Celine Ethier, who raised her as a single mother. Celine had met Melanie’s father while attending college in Northern Ontario. The man was from Botswana, and was attending a mining college nearby. After the completion of his schooling, he returned to Botswana. Shortly thereafter, Celine discovered she was pregnant. The two ended their relationship on good terms, and remained friends, though Melanie never met her birth father.
The Ethier family moved to New Liskeard when Melanie was six years old. She was one of only three people of colour in the area.
Melanie grew into a diligent, responsible young woman. In the fall of 1996, when she was 15 years old, Melanie was an honours Student at École secondaire catholique Sainte-Marie. Her favourite song was Give Me One Reason by Tracy Chapman, she enjoyed roller skating, highland dancing, and dancing ballet.
Melanie wanted to work with children when she grew up, and started planning for this future early. She worked at the Garderie Richelieu daycare, which was attached to her high school. She would go early in the mornings to set up for the day, and then work after school attending to the children who would get off the bus, often staying until it was time to close. The children adored her, especially her younger sister, Jessie. Melanie was described as being a second mother to Jessie.
On the morning of September 28th, 1996, Melanie set out to run some errands, and pay some social calls. First, she stopped by the home of Sylvie Chartrand, her mother’s best friend. She played a while with Steffany, Sylvie’s 6-year-old daughter, while Melanie and Sylvie chatted. Sylvie’s partner, Denis Léveillé and his son Jason were out of town for the weekend.
After Melanie left the Chartrand home, she travelled downtown by bus. There, she happened to run into her best friend outside of the New Liskeard Public Library. The two went to a Pizza Pizza where they had some lunch, and chatted a while. Melanie talked about wanting to become a teacher, and the possibility of volunteering in Botswana.
Next, Melanie and her best friend went to buy some ingredients. Melanie’s grandparents were going to be at the house the next day for her grandmother’s birthday, before they went out of town, and Melanie wanted to make the cake. Melanie and her best friend were seen walking all around town that Saturday afternoon, and were also seen buying the cake ingredients, and at the Pizza Pizza.
During their adventures in town, the two ran into Melanie’s new boyfriend, Neil Fortier, and their other friends Dave Bromley, Jay Denomme, and Ryan Chatwin. Melanie was in a good mood that day, and was excited to hang out with her friends.
At around 9:00 PM and 9:30 PM, the group went into a video rental store, and rented the film Sudden Death. Around 10:00 PM, the group ventured to Melanie’s home. They couldn’t watch the movie in the living room, as Celine was visiting with her parents. Melanie suggested watching the movie in her bedroom, but decided that this was a bad idea when Celine pointed out what a mess the room was.
The group soon made their way over to Ryan’s home, where they were able to watch the movie. Ryan’s parents were home, but they remained in their bedroom while the teenagers went down to the basement. Right around 10:00 PM, Dave left the group in order to make his curfew.
Between 12:30 AM, and 1:00 AM, Jay also returned home. Melanie’s best friend also left around this time. She lived in a town a little further away, and needed to catch a ride back home. As she was leaving Ryan’s house, she noticed a vehicle, described as a white, or light-coloured Chevrolet Monte Carlo or something similar, began following her. She ran from the car, and headed to the intersection near the Armstrong Street bridge, which was better lit. She mentioned that it looked like there were two people in the car, either teenagers or young men. The witness could not recall if she’d ever seen the car again.
Not too long after, between 1:30 AM and 2:00 AM, on September 29th, 1996, left Ryan’s home and began her walk home. She was wearing a green Nike windbreaker with a white T-shirt. She was also wearing blue jeans, a black belt with a silver buckle, black boots, a watch, and a necklace. She was 5’5” tall, and weighed approximately 120 pounds. She had brown eyes, and black hear, with braided extensions.
As she walked, Melanie’s route would have taken her through three intersections, over a bridge, past a gas station and an apartment building, and then either along a main road, or through a back alley. Melanie’s friends indicated that she was partial to going through the back alley to get home.
Celine woke the next morning to Melanie’s alarm clock. It was either 6:00 AM or 7:30 AM. Celine turned the alarm off, but wasn’t worried, as Melanie often spent the night sleeping over at a friend’s house. Celine went back to bed, and didn’t wake again until a couple hours later.
It wasn’t until around 10:00 AM that Celine really began to worry. Her parents had arrived to celebrate her mother’s birthday, but Melanie hadn’t returned home to make the cake. Celine and her father drove to Tim Hortons to buy a cake. Celine began making calls, trying to find where Melanie was.
She called Melanie’s best friend, who informed her that she’d left earlier than Melanie, the night before. She told Celine that Melanie was still having a good time at Ryan’s home when she left. Celine made more calls, where she discovered that Melanie had left Ryan’s home in the early hours of the morning.
At around 1:00 PM on Sunday, September 29th, 1996 Celine Ethier called the New Liskeard Police Service and reported Melanie Ethier missing. New Liskeard Police Chief Doug Jelly took the call, and filed the report.
The ensuing investigation would lead to many theories, many suspects, a few rabbit holes, and more than a few skeletons being released from closets.
Stay tuned for part two.
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Sources:
Christmas a difficult day for mother of missing teen, Melanie Ethier – Jeff Turi – Bay Today
Investigation into Melanie Ethier’s disappearance still ongoing – Timmins Today
Morbid podcast – Episode 245: The Mysterious Disappearance of Melanie Ethier
The Next Call with David Ridgen – The case of Melanie Ethier – CBC Podcasts