Hundreds of cases disappeared or irresolus murders drag in the cards of police services across Quebec. These “Cold Cases”, which patiently await the discovery of new elements of evidence, sometimes become the obsession of private investigators who do not hesitate to search the particularly disturbing files.
“A case is particularly striking when it is certain that the authorities have missed something,” said the founding president of the organization murders and irresolus disappearances of Quebec (MDIQ), Stéphane Luce.
“I will take time to try to find information to give the police from the moment I believe that it is relevant for the investigation. I can’t stay my arms crossed, ”he adds.
Courtesy photo / mdiq
Private investigator, Stéphane Luce
Among the 1110 files which appear in the MDIQ database, which “largely incomplete” according to Stéphane Luce, three particularly disturbing cases continue to haunt the private investigator.
“I will never let go of the song,” he says.
Stéphane Gauthier, murdered in 1982
“This is the case that makes me react the most,” says Luce.
“It happens, as in the file of young Stéphane Gauthier, where the information given to the police does not seem to be taken into account. It’s shocking at that time, “he said.
The boy, who was 12 years old, was found assassinated on December 23, 1982 in a field of the Anjou district, in Montreal. He was undressed and had been sexually assaulted. He would have died strangled with his gray wool sweater. His pocket money would not have been stolen.
Courtesy photo / mdiq
At the end of the afternoon, on December 21, Stéphane Gauthier and two friends go to Canadian shooting the area to recover a Christmas present. On the way back, the children were reportedly followed by three individuals in a white van.
The trio plans to return to friends’ homes, on Messier Street, where they were expected to supper. Around 6:30 p.m., the young Stéphane left to join his mother and his stepfather who were with friends, a few streets from his home.
He never went.
Stéphane Luce is convinced that the investigation must be relaunched, in particular due to the presence of DNA in the file.
“It drags!” We have been pushing for four years to have genetic genealogy tests that can link DNA samples to surnames, “said the private detective.
It was this technology that allowed the arrest of Marc-André Grenon, in 2022, accused of the murder of Guylaine Potvin, a young woman of 19 found dead in her apartment in Jonquière, in April 2000.
The enthusiasm for genealogy in recent years has enabled the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) to have this irresolved crime led which had been dragging for 22 years.
Courtesy photo / mdiq
The millions of DNA samples sent to companies like Ancestry.com provide an incredible database to investigators, who can legally access them, to help them elucidate “Cold Case”.
In Stéphane Gauthier’s file, the genetic genealogy has not yet been used by the police despite the presence of DNA on the small body.
“Many murders could be resolved with this technology, but it is expensive,” says Stéphane Luce.
Marilyn Bergeron, who has been missing since 2008
On February 17, 2008, by a sweet almost spring morning, it is said, Marilyn Bergeron, 24, went for a walk in the Loretteville district, in Quebec. She puts on her coat without taking her handbag or cigarettes and will never come back.
The young musician of a playful nature has just returned to the family home, after spending three years in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, in Montreal. Her entourage is worried: she has become a sad version of herself. An event seems to have disturbed his life.
On February 10, 2008, she called her mother around 6.30 p.m. The young woman is not doing well. She says she is afraid. What? His mother will never get an answer. The two conclude, however, that Marilyn must return to Quebec. She jumps on a bus the same evening.
The following days her arrival, her parents question her. What could have happened to her so that she was in this state? When they ask her if she has been attacked, they get a response to a “yes”.
Marilyn Bergeron’s parents contact the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) the day after her disappearance.
Courtesy photo / mdiq
A clue is quickly in the survey: a person tried to withdraw from the emergency credit card that the father left to his daughter.
The institution’s surveillance cameras confirm that it has tried to withdraw $ 60 at the Automatic Window of Caisse Populaire de Loretteville, to no avail.
On the images, the young woman wears a black backpack. Her parents are categorical: Marilyn had no baggage when she left the house around 10:45 am, the day before.
A second transaction is reported around 4 p.m., this time, at the Café Dépôt de Saint-Romuald, on the other side of the Pierre-Laporte bridge about twenty kilometers from the family residence.
A cashier claims that the young woman bought a coffee with the credit card. She would be the last to see Marilyn Bergeron.
For the police, the case is considered a voluntary departure. For the family, however, the story is different.
Many elements suggest that their daughter was in danger: her rushed departure from Montreal, the possible assault of which she would have been the victim and the sudden change of attitude of Marilyn.
Mélissa Blais, who has been missing since 2017
The 34 -year -old mother was seen for the last time in a bar in Louiseville, Mauricie, in the early morning, November 2, 2017.
Mélissa Blais lives with her lover of the last four years, François, in a house they have just bought. She occupies a job at the Bar-Salon at Nina, in Berthierville, while starting a career as a real estate broker which will end quickly, less than a year and a half after obtaining her license.
On the evening of November 1, 2017, she and her spouse argue. The chicane is trivial, but this kind of hanging is not usual for the couple.
Mélissa decides to leave the house around 7:30 p.m. to get some fresh air. She embarked on her car, a black Toyota Corolla in black, and she rolls a dozen minutes before going to join friends in Louiseville for a game of poker.
After her game, around 11:45 p.m., she texts her spouse to tell her her victory and tell him that she will go to have a beer at the Brassette the friend. She stays there for a drink.
She then walks less than 100 meters from the establishment to head to the Les 2 from the 2 from. She settles there for a few glasses, around midnight. She is alone. The owner of the bar knows her well because she has already worked there.
Around 2 a.m., the owner of the bar offers her twice to go and go back to her house. She refuses and leaves the establishment.
This is the last time that Mélissa Blais has been seen alive.
Courtesy photo / mdiq
The next day, his spouse reports his disappearance to the police. The most likely hypothesis: the young woman was the victim of a road accident as her car is no longer in the parking of the Brassette The friend where she left her the day before.
The SQ begins research. After two weeks, Mélissa and her vehicle were not found.
The surveillance cameras of the Les 2 dice bar did not work that evening and the witnesses present all passed the polygraph successfully or held solid alibis.
On those of the brassette, the friend where the young woman’s corolla was parked, we can see the door on the driver’s side open, close, then the car leave the parking lot. Nothing else.
In 2021, Stéphane Luce’s team entered the investigation. Divers of the organization murders and irresolus disappearances of Quebec (MDIQ) search the rivers in the region in addition to organizing research in the field.
Courtesy photo / mdiq
In this story, several disturbing elements are noted:
- The last cell signal of the young woman was issued at 2:14 am, the night of her disappearance, but came from the tower near the Little River du Loup, in Louiseville.
- On September 30, a strange publication by Mélissa Blais appeared on Facebook. While indicating that she was watching the show Sbruising, Who deals with murders and investigations, she writes “Yen has who can go see where … it’s my turn soon !!!!”
- While she was a baby, Mélissa’s father was also missing a few days before being found dead on the banks of a River in Saint-Jean-de-Matha. It is a violent death whose file is still irresolved to date. According to his half-sister, Manon St-Pierre, Mélissa was said to have been warned of stopping “rummaging” on the death of her father.
- In July 2021, where the last signal of the young woman’s cellular was recorded, a graffiti on which we can read “I love you MB” was found.
In May 2021, Mélissa Blais were informed that a police officer in the homicides section now participated in the investigation.
His disappearance continues to disturb private investigators, such as Stéphane Luce, who continues research.
Last week, the diver duo behind Exploring with a Mission In patrolled in the Yamachiche and Louiseville sector in collaboration with Mdiq to try to find the Corolla de Mélissa Blais, without success.
