Lucy’s text arrived moments later. I made myself a cup of cinnamon rooibos tea and pulled a pen and new notebook from my considerable stash. This one had a swirl of pinks, blues, and greens, with the word BELIEVE embossed in gold on the front cover. Perfect.
That done, I sat down at my computer and went to the Ontario Registry of Missing and Unidentified Adults website.
The basic structure remained the same as I remembered it. Two distinct search sections, one for Unidentified Adults and one for Missing Adults. A third section offered Publications. Beneath the headings was a listing of new and updated cases. As of February 1, three missing person updates had been added, along with a dozen cases dating back to 2003. A footnote advised, “All services provided by the Ontario Registry of Missing and Unidentified Adults are done without cost to families. Cases appearing on the website are approved by family members and/or police prior to posting. Families who contact this Registry for information are not obligated to add their loved one to the website.”
I clicked on a recent listing, saddened to find only the sparsest of details. A Black female, 39, last seen in Toronto, the exact location unspecified. Her weight, hair, and eye color were all listed as Unknown. There was a solitary blurred photograph of a dark-skinned woman wearing a blue striped knit toque and a multi-colored sweater or jacket, her eyes downcast, her face in shadow. I assumed the picture had been taken by a street webcam or security video, possibly one from a convenience store, but either way, it wasn’t much help. How was it that someone could go missing, and there wasn’t a single soul who knew the color of her hair and eyes? I said a silent prayer for the woman and entered the case number Lucy had texted me.
VERONICA CELESTE GOODMAN
Summary
Date of Disappearance: February 14, 1995
Location of Disappearance: Miakoda Falls, Ontario
Age at Disappearance: 18 years
Height (estimate): 5’4”
Weight (estimate): 115 lbs.
Hair Color: Dark blonde
Eye Colour: Blue
Gender: Female
Race: Caucasian
Aliases: None known
Details
Dental Information: Unknown
Medical Information: Unknown
Notable Identifiers: Tattoo of blue dragonfly on left ankle
Complexion: Fair
Build: Slender
Clothing/Jewelry:
Jacket: Brown suede, fringed
Shirt: Red silk
Pants: Black jeans
Footwear: White running shoes, make unknown
Jewelry: Last seen wearing a silver bracelet and heart-shaped pendant
Additional Information
Veronica (known as “Nicki” to her friends and “Roni” to her family) worked as a server at The Miakoda Bar & Grille that was located at the corner of Queen and Water Streets, within a ten-minute walk from her basement apartment, and a popular spot for teachers and staff at Miakoda High. The restaurant closed at 10 p.m. At approximately 10:10 p.m., the owner noticed Veronica speaking with a dark-haired man of medium height and build outside the bar. He did not recognize the man as a patron and assumed that Veronica had arranged to meet a boyfriend after work.
Veronica was last seen walking towards the parking lot behind the bar, the man beside her. They appeared to be having a friendly conversation. When she did not return home by midnight, her older sister, who had been babysitting Veronica’s one-year-old daughter, phoned the police, explaining that Veronica was never home later than 10:30.
The following day, another server found a pendant, later identified as Veronica’s, in the parking lot. There was no sign of her bracelet.
The police investigation established that Veronica was a devoted single mother. She had signed a new lease on her basement apartment ten days before her disappearance, and there was $850 cash in the apartment. The police concluded that it was unlikely that Veronica’s disappearance was voluntary.
Source File: Cedar Country Tri-Community Policing Center, Case CCPD02141995-VCG. Contact: Detective Sheridan Merryfield.
A photograph depicted a pretty, petite blonde with full lips, a pert nose, and oval face, her hair tied back into a ponytail, wearing a black tank top, Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap, and diamond stud earrings. There were no age progressed photos.
I sat back, mulling over what I’d read. Wrote down five things under Veronica Celeste Goodman in my BELIEVE notebook: Disappeared Valentine’s Day. Heart-shaped necklace. Bracelet. Daughter. Pregnant at seventeen.
Then I called Lucy Daneluk.
I didn’t waste time on niceties. “I see the similarities between my mom’s disappearance and this case. Pregnant at seventeen. Disappearing on Valentine’s Day. The jewelry.”
“Precisely,” Lucy said.
“The woman who contacted you about this case. How old is she?”
“Twenty-eight.”
I did some mental math. She would have been a year old in 1995. “Is she the daughter? The infant left behind on Valentine’s Day?”
“Yes. Any other questions?”
“Age progressed photos. There aren’t any. Why?” And even as I said it, I knew the answer. “The police don’t believe she’s alive, do they?”
“I can’t speak for what the police may or not believe,” Lucy said, in a tone that brooked no argument.
I wasn’t sure if I’d hit a nerve or crossed an invisible line. Either way, I wasn’t going there. I looked at the notes jotted down in my BELIEVE notebook. I was ready for this, I told myself, and the Valentine’s Day/missing mother connection is nothing more than coincidence.
“I’d like to try to find her,” I said. “Or at least, find out what happened to her.”
I could almost hear Lucy’s smile over the phone. “The client’s name is Kathleen Goodman. I’ll send you her contact information, tell her you’ll be in touch.” A pause, then, “But before you do, I have two more missing women you should read about first. The case files I have don’t connect them, but they may be related.”
She hung up before I could ask her more, my phone pinging thirty seconds later. I poured myself another cup of tea, clicked on the first link, and started reading.