Group ramps up effort to find missing woman spotted in Hawkesbury

Despite the fact that her family hasn't heard from her in nearly two years, sightings of Marilyn Bergeron are on the rise in Hawkesbury.

The Missing Children and Adults Association, based in Cornwall, recently announced that it will be renewing search efforts for the 26-year-old woman, who disappeared from her home in Québec on February 17, 2008.

Marilyn has allegedly been spotted by at least 30 witnesses in Hawkesbury in the past two months, which has association president Jean Bédard thinking it's time to ramp up efforts to find the young woman.

"Our priority right now is to collect viable information from witnesses who have seen her," Bédard said in an e-mail. "We will be collecting this information and talking to credible witnesses in Hawkesbury over the next several days."

Bédard said he, along with other volunteers, are handling Bergeron's file because "it's a very important file. This is happening right here, in our own community."

He said the association is in constant contact with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Sûreté du Québec and Bergeron's family.

"We're going to do everything we can to find out where she is and at least give this family some peace of mind," he commented. "Right now, they are going crazy, not knowing where she is or if she's okay. We are hoping to at least give them answers to those questions."

In January, Marilyn's parents, Michel Bergeron and Andrée Béchard, travelled to Hawkesbury to hold a press conference during which they pleaded with local residents to contact Hawkesbury OPP with any tips they may have on their daughter's whereabouts.

Béchard said her daughter had been living in Montreal since 2005, but, in February 2008, she called her parents and said she wanted to come home.

"We had noticed a change in her over the two or three months before she called and asked us to move her back home," Béchard noted. "She came home for the holidays (December 2007) and she wasn't herself. She was withdrawn and cried a lot. She told me she was scared, but she wouldn't say why."

On February 16, Béchard recalled, she and her husband went to Montreal to collect Marilyn's things from her apartment. At that time, she told her mother she would tell her what was going on when they got home. Unfortunately, Béchard never got the chance to talk to her daughter.

On February 17, at around 11:15 a.m., Béchard said, her daughter announced that she was going for a walk to get some air. That was the last time Béchard would see her daughter face-to-face.

"The very last thing we know is that she went to get a coffee at Café Dépot in St. Romuald at around 4 p.m.," she stated. "That's about 21 kilometres from our family home. There is a huge lapse of time there, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. We know she paid for her coffee with her credit card and that's it. That's the very last thing we know of our daughter."

The cashier at the shop, who was interviewed by Quebec City Police, remembered that Marilyn seemed depressed and in a hurry to leave the store, Béchard commented.

Béchard said the only thing Marilyn took with her the day she left was her credit card. No purchases have been made with the card since February 17, 2008, the day she disappeared.

"All of her personal items are at our home," Béchard said. "Even her purse is at home. She left with nothing."

Since her disappearance, the Bergeron family has been working closely with Quebec police to try and find their daughter. They set up a website, www.trouvermarilyn.com, which is maintained by Marilyn's sister, Nathalie.

Sun Youth Organization, a Montreal-based organization which provides services and programs for youth, offered a $10,000 reward for anyone with information that could lead the family to Marilyn.

After nearly two years with no news about their daughter, the family received a glimmer of hope just before Christmas.

Bergeron's story was featured on the popular Quebec television show, Le TVA 17 heures, hosted by Claude Poirier. Viewers began calling Quebec City Police Service, alleging they had seen the woman in the Hawkesbury area.

Béchard said one anonymous witness called on December 21, the same day as Marilyn's birthday, and said he had seen Marilyn in Hawkesbury with a young man.

"I don't know if it was a coincidence that he called on that day," Béchard admitted, "but we were so excited."

Béchard said the man indicated that Marilyn had been living in Hawkesbury for approximately 11 months and had lived at two or three different residences during that period.

The family tried to contact the witness, but he never returned their calls.