The family of Marilyn Bergeron and their lawyer say they believe that the missing woman who disappeared in Quebec more than 14 years ago may still be alive and living in Ontario.
According to a “key witness,” there’s reason to believe she may have been spotted in Hawkesbury, Ont. near the Quebec border, a year after her disappearance.
She was last seen on Feb. 17, 2008, leaving the family’s home near Quebec City to take a walk. She was 24 at the time, which would make her 38 today.
The investigation showed that the 24-year-old went to an ATM to take out money and then made a purchase at a Café Depot in Saint-Romuald, Que.
Police have no trace of her since.
Her parents say they believe something troubling was happening to her in the time before she went missing, leading her to leave Montreal where she had been living for a few years and move back in to her family home. They say she felt threatened and unsafe and was going through something heavy.
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Guy Salico, a Hawksbury resident, told reporters at a press conference on Friday that he called police a year after she went missing to report what he believes was an interaction with her. Salico was accompanied by Bergeron’s parents Michel Bergeron et Andrée Béchard, and their lawyer Marc Bellemare, who was Quebec’s Justice Minister and Attorney General in the early 2000s.
Salico says in December 2009 he believes Marilyn rang the doorbell of his home at 2 or 3 a.m. asking for directions to Chamberland Street in Hawkesbury.
“When she came to our house, she was cold, she was frail, wet, because it was raining outside.” He says she refused his and his partner’s offer to drive her to her destination, and after about 15 minutes, she left.
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“She had a little jacket, blue jeans, a light, white T-shirt with a V-neck, and she had high-heeled shoes on,” he said. He added that she was blonde, looked like she was in her early 20s, spoke fluent English, did not look impaired and was very polite. At the time of her disappearance she had brown hair and a tattoo of a horse on the right side of her chest.
The man says he had no clue who she was until the following days when he linked her with the circulating pictures of the missing Quebec girl and reported it to police, who he says met with him at his residence to discuss the incident.
His tip to police was added to the over 20 “credible” tips authorities in Eastern Ontario got during 2009 and 2010 from people saying they saw the missing woman, Bellemare said.
The lawyer says he believes there’s enough evidence to indicate that Marilyn was still alive in Ontario in the years following her 2008 disappearance.
Police, however, were not present during Friday’s press conference and refused to comment on the case.
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Bergeron’s parents are urging anyone else who may have seen their daughter in the years following her disappearance to come forward. “I have hope,” her mother told reporters.
The lawyer says he hopes that in making Salico’s account public to the media, others will come forward. A previous press event for the case back in 2017 led to 50 tips to police.
“If someone in Ontario has something to say, who doesn’t want to speak with police and wants to speak to the family or to me, it will be confidential,” said Bellemare.
Béchard added that it has been 15 years of suffering since her daughter went missing, and the family just wants answers.
Quebec City police said Friday they would not be issuing any comment on the case.
Anyone with any information is being asked to contact the family’s lawyer, Marc Bellemare, at 418-681-1227 or to call police.