On August 15, 1978, at 18 months old, Yohanna vanished from an apartment at 1715 rue Rochon in Saint Laurent, Québec, while her mother was in the North Shore region for work. She had been left with Liliane’s then-boyfriend, Aaron Lewis.
On August 16, Lewis called and said his parents were babysitting Yohanna in Washington, D.C., so he could visit Liliane. After the two returned to Montréal, Liliane went to Washington in search of her daughter. Then, the story changed.
Lewis said Yohanna had drowned in the bathtub, and in a panic, he had buried her. Lewis was charged with child abduction in a Montréal court, but was acquitted and released three weeks later, on Sept. 28, 1978. He was charged with perjury one month after, and again acquitted.
Yohanna’s mother believes she was sold.
In 2006, a woman submitted a tip to the Missing Children’s Network – it was the same story she’d told police back in 1978, then recanted out of fear. She said she saw Lewis leave the apartment with a metal breadbox on the day Yohanna disappeared.
In 2014, using ground radar, investigators twice searched the area on Grenet St. near the former apartment. They excavated the parking lot, which used to be forest, searching for Yohanna. Nothing was found.
The anguish of the unknown is something no family should have to endure – but the ongoing search for Yohanna Cyr is proof that any tip, at any point, can move an investigation forward.
If you have information on this case, please contact any of the following:
Service de police de la Ville de Montréal: 514-393-1133
Reference Case#: 214-02-780905-011
Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS(8477) or online at https://www.canadiancrimestoppers.org/tips
Crime Stoppers provides anonymous tipping
Send email to the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains at:
canadasmissing-disparuscanada@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Sources:
https://www.canadaunsolved.com/cases/missing-yohanna-cyr-1978-montreal-quebec
https://int-missing.fandom.com/wiki/Yohanna_Cyr
https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/212dfqc.html
