On December 25, 1978, Pamela Harvey was reported missing, and after 47 years, answers to what happened have finally been found.
Harvey was 23 at the time of her disappearance and was last seen in the Greater Sudbury region. The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) says that in March 1979, the body of an unidentified woman was discovered in Saint-Eustache, Que.
Forensic technology was limited at the time, but officials still gathered evidence and preserved it in hopes the case wouldn’t go cold.
For the next 47 years, members of the Sudbury Regional Police Service, and then the Greater Sudbury Police Service, remained on the case.
“In 2018, the National DNA Program for Missing Persons was launched, providing DNA samples from relatives to facilitate the identification of missing persons and unidentified human remains,” said the SQ. “GSPS investigators met with Pamela Harvey’s family members and collected DNA samples, which were registered in the national database as part of ongoing efforts to solve her case.”
Fast forward to 2025, when a forensic odontologist was finally able to establish a link between the case of Harvey’s disappearance and the unidentified homicide victim discovered in Saint-Eustache.
“Scientific expertise was then conducted by LSJML experts using preserved exhibits dating from 1979 and compared to the family DNA provided by relatives in 2018, which made it possible to establish a positive match via the RCMP’s National DNA Data Bank and obtain a formal identification confirmed by the Quebec Coroner’s Office,” noted the SQ.
After five decades, police were able to provide long-awaited answers to Pamela Harvey’s family and ensure that her identity and story are no longer unknown.
“Thanks to the investigation by the Sûreté du Québec, investigators have determined that the person presumed responsible for the murder of Pamela Harvey died in 1979,” concluded the SQ. “After 47 years of uncertainty, Pamela Harvey’s family can finally grieve with peace of mind, knowing that her identity has been restored with dignity and respect.”
