A remote Canadian town is on high alert after three friends mysteriously vanish without a trace, causing conspiracy theories to fly.
In the last 14 months, Lawrence Bertrim, 43, Robbie Thomson, 34, and Steve Tate, 34, have all disappeared from Smiths Falls, Ontario, but police are still reluctant to link the three cases.
The Ontario Provincial Police have made no arrests, leaving results very uneasy in their home town, but insist they are investigating each case separately.
Bertrim disappeared in September 2022, and a year later his friend Thompson went missing also. Then, earlier this week, Tate’s body was found in a ditch.
It didn’t take long for rumours and conspiracy theories about the three friends’ disappearances to swirl as the town deals with these unsettling events.
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Ellis Amanda, resident of Smiths Falls, said to CBC: “I’ve lived in this town since I was five. For 42 years, this is the first time I’m not comfortable. I would not leave my house now.”
Many residents of the small town, populated by just oveer 9,000 people, are sharing this feeling on unease. Resident Bill Linton said: “Police haven’t said anything. Which rumours do you believe? Rumours aren’t facts.”
The police department have been keeping their investigations quiet. Their spokesperson, Aaron Miller, told Inside Ottawa Valley that the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) is dealing with all three cases.
He said: “While we are still treating these as individual and unique cases under the direction of separate CIB major case managers, having this oversight will ensure streamlined communication and sharing of information and resources.
Investigators realise that the Smiths Falls area is not huge and connections between people are possible due to proximity. While we cannot speculate on any potential direct connection that could exist, these individuals have some common interests and may have shared mutual connections.”
After Bertrim was last seen on September 30, 2022, police received lots of “second-hand information” regarding his disapearance, but they believe someone knows the truth about what happened to him in the days leading up to and the night of his vanishing.
His mother, Linda Young, said in a video appeal: “I know that people are hearing things and have information. Help bring my family some closure.”
The Ontario Provincial Police department has been helping on the case since January of this year, and his friend Thompson went missing, giving them a new case, in October. They are asking anyone with doorbell or dashcam footage that might aid in their investigations to come forward.
The mystery surrounding the pair’s disappearance only intensified when another one of their friends, Tate, also mysteriously went missing.
He vanished on November 4 and his body was found lying in a ditch next to a highway four miles from where he was last seen alive in Smiths Falls.
Last week, Tate’s house was raided by police as part of a drugs investigation. They found crystal methamphetamine, crack cocaine, cocaine, and other illegal drugs, along with firearms and an axe.
Multiple people have been charged with possession and intent to distrubte as a result of the investigation, but it remains unclear as to whether the drugs were related to Tate’s death.
The missing persons cases of Bertrim and Thompson remain open and no arrests have been made yet. The police continue to investigate and have said foul play cannot be ruled out.
Mayor Shawn Pankow has spoken out about the theories and speculation that is growing in the wake of three disappearances and one death. He said: “When gaps exist people tend to fill them in with their own assumptions, unfortunately.”
