A FAMILY member has turned detective in a desperate bid to solve the mystery of six teenagers who vanished without a trace 31 years ago.
Chad Smith, then 18, and five of his friends disappeared during the early hours of March 17, 1995.
The teens were last traced to East Shore Marina on Frenchman’s Bay in Pickering, Ontario, beside the icy waters of Lake Ontario.
Chad vanished alongside Jay Boyle, Robbie Rumboldt, Michael Cummins, Danny Higgins and Jamie Lefebvre.
The friends were between 16 and 18 years old.
Authorities believe they took a 14-foot Boston Whaler replica and a water tricycle onto the lake without life jackets.
Police concluded the boats probably capsized and that the teens died from hypothermia.
But despite a huge search involving police, the Coast Guard, the military and hundreds of volunteers, no bodies or wreckage were recovered.
Only a single gas can believed to have come from the motorboat was ever found.
It surfaced near Wilson, New York, on the opposite side of Lake Ontario, nearly two weeks after the boys disappeared.
More than three decades later, their families still have no conclusive proof of what happened that night.
Now Chad’s cousin Jamie Hammond, 50, has launched her own investigation in the hope of finally uncovering the truth.
Jamie, a television freelancer based in Nova Scotia, Canada, said: “My goal, and best case scenario, is to find out exactly what happened to these boys.
“If they went into the water and drowned, I want to know that. I want to find the boat and their remains.
“Is it possible that they went into the water and drowned? Yes, it is, but it is also possible that something else happened — and that is what I am trying to work out.
“The worst-case scenario is that we have no conclusive answers.
“All these boys have been gone for longer than they got to be here — they were just boys.”
The six teenagers had reportedly been at a house party before heading toward the marina.
Surveillance footage captured Michael, Jamie and Robbie entering the property at 1:48 am.
Jay, Chad and Danny were not seen in the recording.
Investigators believe the group left the marina in a boat at around 3am, although no footage has emerged showing all six teens entering either vessel.
The teenagers were not reported missing to Durham Regional Police until the following day.
Jamie said: “I think at the time people presumed they were boys getting up to mischief.
“The police were reluctant to jump to conclusions. It was assumed they were out partying or having fun.
“The alarm bells weren’t raised until Saturday morning, and that’s when the wider family was notified.”
The search of Lake Ontario reportedly began around 36 hours after the first calls were made to police.
Divers checked the marina for wreckage while helicopters and military aircraft searched from above.
Teams also combed the shoreline on both the Canadian and US sides of the lake.
But an extensive underwater search was never carried out, and nothing belonging to the teens was found in the water.
Jamie said she was not initially too worried, but her family quickly began to fear the worst.
She said: “During the search, a gas can was found near Wilson, New York, which contributed to the theory that a boat had been taken.
“At the 72-hour mark, the helicopters and divers were stood down. I think it was because they presumed the boys had drowned.
“There were also complaints that the water was too choppy and dark, and there was no visibility for the divers.”
The gas can was reportedly linked to the missing Boston Whaler by a small dent.
However, the vessels, clothing and personal belongings belonging to the boys have never been recovered.
Jamie said the uncertainty devastated her relatives and caused members of the family to grow apart.
She said: “When you lose a loved one, you usually know how they died.
“It’s very rare not to know what happened to your loved one, not to have someone to bury or a place to go to remember them.
“It is unresolved. Personally, it made me passionate about unsolved cases and missing people.”
Frustrated by the lack of answers, Jamie has launched the Lost Boys of Pickering Podcast.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/16776578/mystery-probe-six-teens-vanished-sailing-icy-waters/
