It happened on a hot July weekend in 1988. A 25-year-old woman left a dance and was never seen again. Now her surviving family and the OPP are appealing to the public for new information into the disappearance of Lois Hanna.
Lois was last seen at approximately 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, July 3, 1988, in Lucknow, Ontario. She said goodbye to her brother, Dave Hanna, at the Homecoming Dance and he watched her walk away. It was an ordinary moment he would replay for decades, never imagining it would be the last time he would ever see her.
“To have someone gone and to not know how they left, where they are, that’s the hard part,” Jim says. “At this point in time and to give the family some peace, if we could just have Lois back that would be enough. If we could just go to bed at night and know Lois is with Mom and Dad – that would be enough.”
A missing persons’ report was filed with the then-operational Kincardine Police the following day after Lois did not report for work. A co-worker named Christine Szekely went to check for Lois at her home and found an eerie scene when she entered her friend’s house. The lights were on, the TV was playing, Lois’s clothes from the night before were put away, her purse and keys were untouched and there was a fresh cup of tea on the kitchen counter by the side door, where two drops of blood were later located on the wall. The house was locked and her car was parked in the driveway. Everything was in its place, but there was no Lois.
“The bathroom window was opened a tiny bit, so I was able to fit through that window and enter her house,” Christine said, speaking publicly for the first time. “When my feet hit the tub, I was immediately overcome with a sense of dread. I knew something was wrong.”
On Wednesday, July 6, 1988, the OPP was asked to assist in the investigation. Despite hundreds of interviews and exhaustive searches that covered hundreds of acres by land, water and air, Lois has not been found.
Over the nearly four decades since Lois went missing, the OPP has continued to investigate her disappearance. In 1996, six detectives were assigned to re‑examine the case, and the following year it was announced at a press conference that advancements in DNA technology had produced a male profile from two drops of blood.
As the only girl in the family, Lois was special to everyone. In the newly released documentary, Vanished – Lois Hanna: Unsolved her four brothers remember her as kind, fun to be around, and with a wicked sense of humour, and speak candidly about their decades-long search for answers.
Also featured are the co-worker who entered her home after Lois vanished, one of the initial OPP detectives on the case and a recently assigned dedicated detective who is reviewing the entire case and has conducted 45 new interviews and two new polygraphs.
The documentary also features never-before-released evidence. On the night Lois went missing, a vehicle was seen parked outside of Lois’s house at approximately 3:00 a.m. Notably, the vehicle had round headlights. Since vehicles in the mid-1980s featured square headlights, this suggests the vehicle was likely an older model from the 1970s.
Additionally, that same night, a credible witness heard suspicious voices and activity at the Kincardine harbour.
“The OPP is committed to investigating the disappearance of Lois Hanna,” says Detective Inspector Phil Hordijk, Major Case Manager of the Criminal Investigation Branch. “We have dedicated resources to this case, and with continued advancements in DNA, we remain hopeful that we will learn what happened to Lois. Thirty-eight years is a long time. We urge anyone with information to please come forward.”
The OPP hopes that with both the release of this video with new eye-witness reports and further advancements in DNA technology, information will come to light that could help solve this historical case. The Government of Ontario is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the location of Lois Hanna.
The South Bruce OPP Crime Unit continues the investigation, under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). Anyone with information is urged to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or www.ontariocrimestoppers.ca.
