A police search earlier this week of a property in the Apsley area has found no evidence in connection to the cold case of Francis Harris, a 45-year-old mother of three who disappeared without a trace 51 years ago from her home on Highway 28 just south of Apsley.

On Tuesday (November 7), members of the Peterborough County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Crime Unit, UCRT (Urban Search and Rescue Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) Response Team, and Canine Unit conducted a search inside and around a barn on a property originally owned by the family.

Police conducted the search based on information received from the public. On Friday (November 10), the OPP reported no evidence was found during that search that would assist in moving the investigation forward.

The same property had already been searched in 2012, after police received a tip that prompted them to spend three days examining the vacant land that was once the site of the family home (it had burned down in 1990 and is now where the Apsley Veterinary Services is located). Ground-penetrating radar and heavy machinery found nothing.

Francis Harris was last seen on Friday, April 21, 1972. That morning, she had travelled with her 42-year-old husband Stan for one of his regular physiotherapy appointments at 9:30 a.m. in Peterborough. After leaving the appointment, the couple stopped in Lakefield on the way back to Apsley, where Stan went to the bank and Francis went to the post office.

A witness reported seeing the couple together in the family car on Highway 28 later that morning. Stan said the couple ate lunch together before he left for his job at the Department of Highways (now the Ministry of Transportation) by 1 p.m., although witnesses claimed seeing his car (along with another car) at the family’s home during that afternoon — a report Stan denied.

VIDEO: The Mystery of Francis Harris – Missing Since 1972 (1977 “Code 10-78” episode)

Francis was never seen again. Stan — who reported her missing three days later — claimed she had abandoned the family, although many of her possessions (including her purse) remained in the family home. Subsequently, there were many rumours about the couple, including infidelity in the marriage. Stan, who had always maintained he was not involved in her disappearance, passed away in June 2021 at the age of 92.

On April 21, 2020, the OPP issued a media release stating they were continuing their investigation into Francis’s disappearance and included a forensic artist sketch of what she may have looked like in 1992 at the age of 65 if she were still alive. Today, she would be 95 years old if she were still alive.

The disappearance of Francis Harris continues to be an open investigation under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch.

Anyone with information about this case can contact the Peterborough County OPP at 705-742-0401 or 1-888-310-1122 (case #20090023). Anonymous tips can be made to Peterborough Northumberland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or online at stopcrimehere.ca.

Canadian Forces veteran Lee-Anne Quinn is one of six people named as a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club of Peterborough, who will be celebrating the recipients with a dinner and ceremony next week.

Named for Rotary International founder Paul Percy Harris, Rotary’s highest recognition is given to both Rotarians and non-Rotarians who exemplify Rotary’s motto of “Service above Self” in the categories of community, international, vocational, youth, and environment. Each recipient receives a Paul Harris Fellow certificate and a Paul Harris pin.

The other five people named as Paul Harris Fellows by Peterborough Rotary are Myke Healy and Darlene Callan (youth), Dorothy Taylor (environment), Kathi Curtin Williams (community), and Kateryna Sysoieva (international).

Quinn was named as a Paul Harris Fellow in the category of vocational service, which focuses on adherence to and promotion of the highest ethical standards in all occupations, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the contribution of vocational talents to solving the problems of society and meeting the needs of the community.

For 22 years in the Canadian Forces, Quinn worked as an air medical evacuation nurse and U.N. peacekeeper, deployed in Somalia, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan as well as isolated First Nations and Inuit communities in northern Ontario and Yukon.

After retiring from the military in 2008 with the rank of major, she moved to her hometown of Peterborough where she continued to worked as a nurse practitioner in primary health care. She received the Governor General’s Award of Military Merit in 2006 and the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2012.

Now serving as the first-ever female honorary lieutenant colonel in the Hastings and Prince Edward County Regiment, Quinn is also part of a group of Peterborough-area residents who have sponsored Syrian refugees to come to Canada.

Quinn was the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Peterborough’s meeting on Monday (November 6), where the key message of her talk was “every human on the face of this Earth deserves to be treated humanely.”

Members of the public are invited to help Rotary celebrate Quinn and the other five Paul Harris Fellows on Monday, November 13th at the Peterborough Golf and Country Club, beginning with a social gathering at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased by contacting Rotarian Bill Crins at bcrins@cogeco.ca and sending an etransfer to treasurerpeterboroughrotary@gmail.com.

Bobcaygeon Brewing Company has released the third beer in its “Community Brew” collaboration series in partnership with McThirsty’s Pint in downtown Peterborough, where a portion of sales supports a local charitable organization.

The craft brewery launched the new brew on Wednesday (November 8) at its taproom at 649 The Parkway in Peterborough.

Bobcaygeon Brewing Company describes its West Coast Pale Ale, with 5.5% alcohol by volume, as having a “bold hop aroma and flavour, characterized by a clear, amber-gold colour and a balanced malt profile” and showcasing “citrus and pine notes from the hops.”

With each beer in the Community Brew series, $1 from every pint sold and 50 cents from every can sold is donated to a local charitable organization. Proceeds from the West Coast Pale Ale will be donated to the New Canadians Centre in Peterborough, a non-profit organization that helps newcomers settle and integrate into the community.

The West Coast Pale Ale is available now in cans at Bobcaygeon Brewing Company and online at bobcaygeonbrewing.ca, and will also soon be on tap at the brewery’s taproom and at McThirsty’s Pint at 166 Charlotte Street in downtown Peterborough.

The first two beers in the Community Brew series were Blackberry Raspberry Goose in support of One City Peterborough and Kolsch in support of the Otonabee Region Conservation Authority.

A 16-year-old girl from London, Ontario has been arrested in connection with a bomb threat against Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) last week.

At around 11:15 a.m. last Tuesday (October 31), Peterborough police were informed by PRHC that the hospital had received several threatening phone calls, including one about a bomb threat.

As part of the PRHC’s emergency procedure, the hospital immediately declared a “code black” — an emergency code in response to a bomb threat — and initiated a perimeter lockdown.

Through an investigation, police determined the threat was not credible and was being made by a person in another community. However, in accordance with PRHC’s policy, Peterborough police and hospital security conducted a safety search of the building, and it was cleared several hours later.

On Friday (November 3), police officers in London executed a warrant on behalf of Peterborough police and arrested a 16-year-old girl, who has been charged with uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.

The accused teenager was released on an undertaking and is scheduled to appear in court on November 27.

A delegation of 10 members from the environmental group For Our Grandchildren visited Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith’s constituency office on Monday (November 6) to deliver 100 postcards urging the Ford government to protect old-growth trees in the Catchacoma Forest from logging and to preserve the Greenbelt.

The group had organized a write-in campaign in May as part of Artsweek Peterborough, where 100 residents decorated and signed the postcards.

The Catchacoma Forest is a 662-hectare stand of mature eastern hemlock north of Catchacoma Lake in Peterborough County, beside Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. In 2019, Dr. Peter Quinby, chief scientist of the Peterborough-based non-profit Ancient Forest Exploration & Research (AFER), identified the forest as the largest-known stand of old-growth eastern hemlock in Canada after AFER found many trees over 120 years old — with the oldest tree, a 350-year-old eastern hemlock, marked for logging.

The documentary film Conserving Catchacoma, which premiered at the 2022 ReFrame Film Festival, follows the efforts of the Conserving Catchacoma group to protect the old-growth hemlock in the forest, which is also home to at least 10 documented species at risk.

The Bancroft Minden Forest Company holds the license to manage the Crown land within the area, which includes logging, and the postcards appealed to the provincial government to withdraw the license and to make the forest part of Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park.

The other message on the postcards concerned development on Greenbelt lands.

“Although since May the government has reversed its course on allowing development in the Greenbelt, it is still planning incursions in these lands, pushing expanded municipal boundaries and projects such as Highway 413,” reads a media release from For Our Grandchildren.

The group adds that sensible development would stop urban sprawl and recognize the significant habitat and important agricultural land contained in the Greenbelt.

“The delegation encouraged MPP Smith to speak out for us all and put action on the climate crisis on the agenda of the Ford government,” reads the media release.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has released its 2024 canine unit calendar to raise money for the OPP Youth Foundation and Friends of The OPP Museum.

More than 50 police service dogs and their 33 handlers serve the OPP in various ways, including search and rescue, narcotics detection, suspect apprehension, and firearms, explosives, and physical evidence search and detection.

Canine unit members also provide community engagement at local events and safety demonstrations. During the calendar’s launch event, children from the Mnjikaning Kendaaswin Elementary School in Orillia enjoyed a demonstration featuring members of the canine unit.

The 2024 calendar showcases 12 police service dogs from across Ontario, including photos, age, breed, specialty, location, and a brief description.

This year’s cover model features Aaron, a four-year-old Belgian Malinois who was the winner of the obedience category at the 2023 Canadian Police Canine Association’s National Police Dog Competition. Embedded in the OPP Tactics and Rescue Unit, Aaron is deployed with his handler to support high-risk incidents.

The calendar’s 12 dogs also include Hopper (April),a two-year-old yellow lab whose speciality is search and rescue, and Rico (December), a six-year-old Malinois-shepherd mix who is a general service dog.

Each calendar costs $15 and can be purchased online at www.oppshop.on.ca or in person at the OPP Off Duty Shop at 777 Memorial Avenue in Orillia.

All proceeds go to the OPP Youth Foundation, which provides funds to disadvantaged youth throughout the province of Ontario, and The Friends of The OPP Museum, a volunteer-based charitable organization that supports, promotes, and assists in the preservation of the history of the OPP.

Last year’s calendar sales raised more than $32,800 for the two organizations.