Property of woman who disappeared 51 years ago searched by Ontario police

Now over 51 years since the disappearance of a woman just north of Peterborough, Ont., investigators returned to her family’s property on Tuesday to conduct a search.

Peterborough County OPP say 45-year-old Francis Muriel Harris (nee Johnson) was last seen on April 21, 1972, at her home on Highway 28 just south of the village of Apsley, which is 60 kilometres north of Peterborough.

The mother of three children was reported missing by her husband three days later, OPP have previously reported.

Officers on Tuesday excavated inside and around a barn on the property and also used dogs in the property search. Investigators conducted a property search and dig in 2012.

“It’s the property that Francis’s family lived at at the time of her disappearance,” Const. Dan Gay said. “It’s a 51-year-old case but it’s still being investigated today.”

In 2020 police released an OPP forensic artist’s sketch of Harris, depicting what she may have looked like at age 65 in hopes of solving the missing person case.

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If alive today, Harris would be age 96.

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“The search is the result of information obtained by the public,” Gay said. “Unfortunately we are not able to discuss what that information was. And we will be able to provide updates if they are warranted.”

OPP have previously noted that on April 21, 1972, Harris went with her husband Stanley to Peterborough for a medical appointment. The couple stopped in the village of Lakefield before arriving home around 11 a.m.

Stanley reportedly went to work from 1 p.m. to 5:05 p.m. Their son Rod, age 13 at the time, came home from school around 3:40 p.m. that day but Francis was not home.

There have been no reported sightings of Francis since then. Stanley died in June 2021 at the age of 92.

“We welcome any information that anyone has that may be new and fresh to us — we will continue to investigate as long as we possibly can,” Gay said.

Anyone with information is requested to contact the Peterborough County OPP at 705-742-0401 or 1-888-310-1122 or anonymously via the Peterborough Northumberland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online.