The Disappearance Of Melanie Ethier

Melanie was a very bubbly person

She had a good spirit about her that she was always happy and she hung out with the good

crowds. She was good in school. She was responsible. It's just a unique case with no crime scene because it just seems like she's vanished

from the earth really. It's almost like working backwards on the case just to try and figure

out exactly what happened to her. She'd be 39 this Christmas. I'd lost her

Melanie and her friends had been out and about throughout the town of New Listered that day

It was Saturday, 28th, September, 1996. And they were just doing what normal teenagers would do

hanging out and doing a bit of shopping and her and one of her friends actually stopped into one of the local stores to buy a cake and a new cake pan for her grandmother's birthday that she was planning on making the cake for the next day

10 o'clock that night she came over with her friends because they were supposed to be going to watch movies close to our place

She said that they couldn't go there to watch the movies so she asked if she could watch them in her room

So I made the comment that her room was a mess. So as soon as I said, your room's a mess, like, let's go, guys

And she said it with a smile. So that was the last thing I saw of her

Then they walked out. So she was in a good mood when she left the house I walked to the sidewalk And I looked at them walk away and then I asked myself what am I doing here I never done that before

But I guess it was the last time I saw her, and it's just weird

because it's not something I would have normally done, but I was there watching them go

And that's the last time I saw her. They ended up at one of their other friends' homes

and they proceeded to watch this movie. 1230, Melanie's friend actually left prior to the movie ending because she needed to get a ride home to Halebury

She was startled when she left is what she tells police in that she saw a suspicious vehicle that startled her to the point where she ran

Melanie would have left approximately an hour after her girlfriend. She was actually walked to the door by one of her other friends who saw her leave the residence and

start to walk westward on Pine Street East. We do have a witness that says that she saw

Melanie on the bridge, but police or her family have not seen or heard from Melanie since

The next morning, her alarm went on, so I got up, I went to turn it off. I noticed she wasn't there

So I thought she must have fell asleep watching the movies because she's done that before

So I went back to bed. I think all of us, including all the community, was just not too concerned

in the first few hours because we just all probably assumed that, you know, she would show up

But Melanie actually had a babysitting job that afternoon that she didn't show for

So I contacted the police and it was Chief Jelly who answered the call

At the time of Melanie's disappearance, the New Listford Police Service was actually in charge of the case

Then the New List Good Police Service contacted the Ontario Provincial Police to request some of our assistance

We dispatched our emergency response team to widen the search perimeters. We also used the underwater search and rescue unit just to look in the Wabi River

from the Armstrong Bridge point all the way to Lake Timiscaming. And that did not reveal anything

What unique about Melanie case is the fact that we don have a crime scene Generally speaking in any investigation we start in the center and work out We don know where the center is

Although we do believe that she did come to some type of foul play that evening

she didn't have a reason to leave the area. In addition to that, New Liskert is located on the Trans-Canada Highway

There are people driving from east to west in Canada through this area

that presents another significant problem to deal with. There's been many aspects throughout those 23 years

different projects that have occurred, different targets in persons of interest. Unfortunately, I can't reveal the number of tips

who provided tips because they're all points of evidence, and I would hate for the offender out there

to know exactly where we're at with the case. Although maybe frustrating at times, you have to look at it as from an investigator's point

that at least it's productive in that it's moving the case a little bit forward if we do eliminate a person of interest

In this particular case, all of the information has been uploaded into the major case management software called Power Case

and this is incredibly powerful. It allows us to establish links between other cases

We've had several digs, actually. actually up in our area because of specific information that we've been able to link with other information

Names, phone numbers, license plates, any information could be triggered on another case

which might potentially provide us with the lead that could close this file

They've always done everything that they could. They've followed leads. I just don't know what

they've done because of confidentiality has to stay that way. We average two to three tips, whether or not it be one month, we're going to get two or three tips the next month type thing

So the public really seems to keep Melanie's case in our mindset anyway

But the relationships that you form with the family motivates you as a police officer

With Lisa it been good because she been on the longest So when I talk to her about something I don have to bring back the past It very hard after 23 years

It's like it's never ended. It's like a very long funeral. I don't feel in my heart that she's alive

It's been the same thing over and over whenever a body is found. You wait to see if it's her

I just want it to be over. To bring resolution to the..

ECHA family. That's why we do this. You know, I've always believed the most important

role that we have in this organization is delivery of frontline service

To be able to tell us, Lynn, that we have some type of a resolution

in knowing her and getting to understand who Melanie was a little bit from her over the years

I really think that she would just like to know what happened. It's amazing what

information people have in their possession. Sometimes they, I think, think they believe that the police must already know, but then for whatever reason they decide

to call in the tip and it allows us to move forward with this investigation. Someone out there

knows what happened to Melanie Echay and all it takes is one phone call. I wish that they would

find it in their heart to come forward and end that silence to not go to the grave with that

kind of information. I believe that it would give me peace. I would love to have a funeral for Melanie

Like she deserves to be put to rest. I believe that's what she'd like and I keep on

fighting for her because she's not here to do it