Unsolved: True Canadian Cold Cases by Robert J. Hoshowsky
https://www.scribd.com/book/230100891/Unsolved-True-Canadian-Cold-Cases
Living in the USA, my fascination with contemporary cold cases - i.e. missing persons, unsolved murders and thefts - tends to be a tad provincial, revolving around mysteries encountered on television broadcasts and front pages devoted almost exclusively to "American" news. Opening the pages of Unsolved by Robert Hoshowsky, then, introduced me to a whole new world of who- and how- dunits. As I turned page after page, I couldn't help but ask myself "How the hell have I never heard of this case?"
Take eight-year-old Nicole Morin for example. On July 30th, 1985, shortly after 10:30AM, she left her family's apartment in Etobicoke, Ontario to go swimming with a friend. Before leaving the apartment, she said goodbye to her mother and also spoke via intercom with her friend waiting in the building's lobby. Then somehow, in the course of descending 20 floors, she simply vanished. After waiting about 15 minutes, Nicole's friend buzzed back to Nicole's apartment, got no answer, decided Nicole must be delayed and went off to the swimming pool without her. Only hours later, after Nicole failed to return home, did her family realize she'd gone missing. And that, as they say, is that.
Wow. How have I never heard this story before?
Unsolved is filled with cases like this: the stone-cold whodunit murder of entrepreneur, Frank Roberts; the appearance of seven severed feet washing up on the shores of British Columbia over the course several months (since solved: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110052/Human-feet-washed-Pacific-coast-people-committed-suicide.html ). In some instances, Hoshowsky even presents some tantalizing theories to explain these untoward events, and this is where his study becomes most interesting. In most cases, however, he refrains from speculation out of sensitivity to the victims and survivors, Although I appreciate his discretion, as a reader and fellow cold case enthusiast I must confess my disappointment when his presentation simply concludes with the known facts.
These Canadian cases, like their counterparts worldwide, beg for hypotheses, theories and conjectures. In an upcoming blog, I will look at the Morin disappearance in more detail and try to provide some possible scenarios to explain her vanishing. For now, though, I can heartily recommend Hoshowsky's book as a fascinating introduction to unsolved mysteries that few, if any, Americans will know. For those wishing to further research Canadian missing persons and cold cases, these webpages may be a good starting point:
https://missingkids.ca/app/en/missing_children_database
http://listverse.com/2014/09/09/10-haunting-canadian-murders-that-no-one-can-solve/
For those interested in more cold cases and unsolved mysteries, check out my Crimes, Cons & Scams collection:
https://www.scribd.com/collections/11872131/Crime-Cons-Scams
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