Five-Year Anniversary Of Holly Jones’s Disappearance
Posted May 12, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s a day many Torontonians will never forget – one that prompted parents to hold their children a little tighter.
It was five years ago Monday that 10-year-old Holly Jones disappeared from her west end neighbourhood as she walked home from a friend’s house in the Bloor and Perth Avenue area. After a short and frantic search the youngster’s remains were discovered the next day on the shores of the Toronto Island.
Nearly a month after her disappearance, 35-year-old software developer Michael Briere was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty at his trial in 2004 and admitted that he viewed child pornography on a regular basis, including on the night he kidnapped Holly. He received an automatic life sentence with no chance for parole for 25 years.
On Monday, the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club hosted its annual Butterfly Walk in memory of Holly. The group invited the public to join in on the emotional moving tribute, which took place between 6pm and 8pm. Kids made paper butterflies and retraced Holly’s last steps from her friend’s house to her home on Sterling Avenue after meeting at the Perth Avenue Parkettte.
Since her death, two murals have been created in Holly’s memory, one at the Perth Parkette and a second at Sorauren Park.
The Holly Jones Case: A Timeline
May 12, 2003
Holly Jones is visiting a girlfriend in her Bloor West and Perth Ave. neighbourhood, when it begins to get dark. She starts to walk home, but never arrives.
As the ten year-old’s family waits and worries, police issue an Amber Alert for the girl, hoping someone in the neighbourhood has seen her.
May 13, 2003
As Holly’s parents make a public and heart wrenching appeal for information about their daughter, police make a disturbing discovery off the Toronto Islands – two bags are found on the shoreline containing body parts.
It doesn’t take investigators long to confirm the worst possible news – the remains are those of the missing girl. Cops plead with anyone who saw a stranger lugging heavy bags down in the area to come forward. But it appears Holly’s killer somehow escaped unseen.
May 14, 2003
Police release pictures of the bags and two dumbbells used to weigh them down, hoping someone will recognize them.
May 15, 2003
Investigators scour Holly’s neighbourhood, looking for the clothes she may have been wearing that night. They appeal for the hotline to keep ringing with clues.
May 16, 2003
The search narrows to two men seen on a ferry heading toward the Island on the day of Holly’s murder. Only one steps forward, and is declared cleared by police. The other remains unknown.
Police warn the killer he left a large amount of evidence behind, and they won’t stop until they find him.
May 19, 2003
A week after Holly’s disappearance, nearly 1,700 phone tips have been received. But the one that cracks the case has yet to come in.
May 20, 2003
A heartbreaking day sees the high and mighty – from Mayor Mel Lastman and Premier Ernie Eves – to the ordinary citizen attending the child’s funeral at St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church. An ocean of tears accompanies the service.
May 21, 2003
As police search through garbage for evidence, authorities begin a controversial voluntary program of taking DNA from men who live in the area of the crime. Only a few refuse. One turns out to be a computer software developer named Michael Briere.
June, 2003
As the first month anniversary of Holly’s murder approaches, her neighbourhood goes on high alert. A series of attempted abductions in the area increases parental vigilance and puts already frayed nerves even more on edge. Some vow to move out as soon as they can.
June 20, 2003
In a story that broke on Breakfast Television, police confirm they’ve made an arrest in Holly’s murder. He’s Michael Briere, an area resident who lives directly on the route Holly would have taken to go home.
June-July 2003
Police set up a huge tarp outside Briere’s apartment, and spend weeks ripping the interior apart in their hunt for evidence. When they finally leave, cryptic cops will only hint they found a lot of what they were looking for.
May, 11 2004
The first candlelight vigil for the girl is held the night before the anniversary of her death.
June 17, 2004
As rumours swirl that Briere wants to save the Jones family the ‘agony of a trial’, the accused pleads guilty to first degree murder in a Toronto courtroom.
Briere explains he’d been looking at child pornography on his computer the night he committed the crime, and decided to abduct Holly on an impulse. He’d never been in trouble with the law before. He receives an automatic life sentence.
