🚨 30 Years Later: The Unsolved Disappearance of the “Lost Boys of Pickering” – Six Teens Vanish in 1995
On March 17, 1995 – St. Patrick’s Day – six teenage boys from Pickering, Ontario disappeared without a trace after a night of partying, leaving behind a mystery that has gripped the community and beyond for three decades.
The boys – Jay Boyle, Michael Cummins, Danny Higgins, Chad Smith, Robbie Rumboldt, and Jamie Lefebvre – were last known to be together that night. Surveillance footage captured three of them entering the East Shore Marina on Frenchman’s Bay around 1:48 a.m. Despite no sign of the other three on the tape, authorities theorized all six took a small boat and water tricycle, capsized in the cold waters of Lake Ontario, and succumbed to hypothermia.
However, no bodies, clothing, or boat definitively tied to the group have ever surfaced. A gas can discovered 11 days later in New York state was linked by a small dent, but questions arose about currents. Pants resembling those worn by one boy were found years later but ruled out via DNA, though some doubted the chain of evidence.
Searches involved thousands of volunteers by air, land, and water, but underwater efforts were limited and called off quickly. Surveillance of three boys entering the marina but no sign of the others; gas can found in Wilson, N.Y., 11 days later, identified by a small dent as belonging to the Boston Whaler; pair of pants similar to Jay Boyle’s red Levis jeans found in trash mesh at Sir Adam Beck station in 1998, ruled out via DNA but investigator had doubts; no underwater search conducted.
Private investigator Bruce Ricketts pursued the case for over 13 years pro bono, exploring alternative theories including possible drug connections and accessing additional marina footage showing other individuals present that night. He appealed for them to come forward before his passing in January 2024.
The case remains open with no conclusive answers. True crime communities worldwide continue discussing it on social media, blogs, and videos, but no one with key information has stepped forward. The boys’ families, including young daughters left behind by one, still await closure.
📞 How to Help
Anyone with information can contact Durham Regional Police at 905-579-1520 or anonymously Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca.
🔗 Source
Visit CanadaMissing.ca for verified missing-person cases across Canada.
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