On Monday May 13, 2013, officers from the Peterborough County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) were called to investigate a report of a missing person from a Hilliard Street address located in Selwyn Township.
Lorraine ROACH, who was 58 years old at the time of her disappearance, was last seen leaving her residence on May 11, 2013 at 1:30am.
After extensive searches by the OPP, family members and volunteers there is still no sign of the missing Selwyn Township woman. This investigation remains active and continues under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). Even after six years, investigators are confident that someone holds the key to information which will solve this missing person case. If you have information about the Lorraine ROACH disappearance, please contact Detective Sergeant Shaun Filman at the Peterborough County OPP (705) 742-0401, the Provincial Communication Centre (PCC) (888) 310-1122 or Crime Stoppers (800) 222-TIPS (8477). Ontario Provincial Police is committed to public safety, delivering proactive and innovative policing in partnership with our communities. Peterborough County OPP values your contribution to building safe communities. If you have information about suspected unlawful activity, please visit Crime Stoppers at: http://stopcrimehere.ca or call 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Five years ago police began a frantic search for Lorraine Roach.
An OPP helicopter flew above a forest where her Pontiac Montana van was found near an access point to the Trans Canada Trial off Ackison Road on the west edge of Peterborough.
Peterborough County OPP and members of the Central East Region OPP emergency response team scoured the area with the canine unit, all-terrain vehicles and a canoe to search heavily-wooded areas and bodies of water. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years and still today her whereabouts remain unknown.
“It is a difficult one because she vanished into thin air,” OPP Central Region media relation co-ordinator Sgt. Peter Leon said. “Somebody out there has to know something, and that is the reality of it.”
The then 58-year-old wife, sister, mother and grandmother was last seen at her Hilliard Street home by her husband George Roach in the early morning hours of May 11, 2013, when he said she left for the casino. He reported her missing three days later, when she didn’t return.
“As people age, we don’t want them to leave us without (sharing) valuable information that could provide a means of a resolution to this case,” Leon said. “We are still positive that we will find the answers to her disappearance.”
A year following her disappearance, Lorraine’s son from her first marriage and stepson to George came out publicly and said he and Lorraine’s siblings believed George had something to do with his wife’s disappearance.
“We definitely speculate that something isn’t right and George is involved, ” Lorraine’s son Andrew said in an interview in 2014.
The three of them confronted George and straight out asked where Lorraine’s body is. George denied the allegation.
“It floored me,” he said about the encounter.
“I was so shocked.”
George said it was common for his wife to be at the slots for a couple of days and didn’t start to worrying until he knew her medication supply would run dry.
“I miss her every day. I don’t wake up in the morning without wondering where is and wondering why she is not there, ” George said at the time.
In the same interview, George said he had been interviewed a handful of times since his wife vanished, and that police searched their home and property as well as property the family owns up north. He also said he gave them a DNA sample because they found blood in the van. Police have also asked him to do a lie-detector test. He hadn’t done one as of May 9, 2014, but it’s unclear if he has since.
At the time, Lorraine’s daughters Charlotte and Jennifer stood by George’s side.
“There hasn’t been any new developments, ” Leon said.
“If information were to come in that we perhaps need to look in an area or revisit an area that was previously searched, then we would have no difficulties calling on the appropriate resources.”
In the last five years, OPP have searched several wooded areas, including behind the Roach’s home. Police also executed a search warrant at the Hilliard Street home in October 2014. The search included the use of a drone and all-terrain vehicles.
Police also released images of Lorraine seen at Galaxy Cinemas on Water Street around 6:40 p.m. on May 10, 2013. OPP said she appeared to be alone and purchased a ticket for the movie Oblivion.
A $50,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of Lorraine. Leon reminds citizens that they call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if they wish to remain anonymous.
“Any information that anyone would have would be helpful,” Leon said.
“Sometimes people have that information and they just have to be reminded that there is a viable option were anonymity is guaranteed.”
https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/news-story/8608909-no-sign-of-lorraine-roach-five-years-after-she-disappeared-from-peterborough/
