35 years later: Disappearance of Nicole Morin remains a mystery

Thirty-five years ago Nicole Louise Morin went to meet a friend and was neither seen nor heard from again.

A massive search effort was launched by police for the missing eight-year-old girl, and though officials have received thousands of tips over the years, what happened to Morin remains a mystery.

The four-foot-tall brown-eyed girl left her 21-storey Etobicoke apartment around 11:00 a.m. on July 30, 1985, to meet a friend. The plan was to meet in the lobby of Morin’s apartment building and go swimming. She never made it.

“We don’t know if she ever made (it to) the elevator,” her father Art Morin would later tell CityNews. “She just left the door, walked down the hall and that’s it.”

Her disappearance would spark an extensive search of Etobicoke and the launch of a 20-member taskforce, with approximately 900 community members helping to look for the little girl.

Unfortunately, no trace of Morin was ever found.

Police would later clear all family members and acquaintances of playing a role in her disappearance.

Officials have kept the case open and in 2014 a re-enactment video was released in the hopes of garnering new leads in the case.

Police and Crimestoppers have received thousands of tips over the past 35 years, including one that lead OPP to a rural area north of Barrie in 2014.

They scoured the area, but again, nothing was found.

In 2019, on the 34th anniversary of her disappearance, an age-enhanced, artist rendition of Morin was released. The sketch shows what Morin might look like in her 40s.

In media interviews over the years, Art Morin has always expressed his hope that his daughter will be found.

“I just remain hopeful that whatever happens, that Nicole is OK and one day we will reconnect. Probably, if she’s alive, she’s got that hope too.”

The case remains open to this day.