It’s been 29 years since eight-year-old Toronto girl Nicole Morin went missing but police say they receive a number of tips each year that help keep the case alive
Nicole was last seen at around 11 a.m. on July 30, 1985. She left her Etobicoke apartment to go swimming with a friend but her family never saw her again. Police believe she never made it to the lobby where she was supposed to meet her friend.
On Wednesday, police released a re-enactment video of they believe to be Nicole's last steps. It was taped in the same building where she went missing. It shows her leaving an apartment at 627 The West Mall wearing a bathing suit and holding a towel, walking down the hallway and then inside an elevator.
Police are not sure whether the little girl even made it to the elevator or if she was taken by someone who boarded the elevator with her.
Her disappearance sparked one of the most exhaustive searches in Toronto police history.
More than 15,000 hours have been put into the investigation. A 20-person task force was created and more than 900 community members joined the search.
Police say none of the leads they've received have led to concrete evidence in the case but they are hoping new tools like social media will help generate new public interest and perhaps even some new tips.
Det. Sgt. Madelaine Tretter spoke to the media at a news conference Wednesday saying that investigators have spoken to people over the years and have even reinterviewed some witnesses.
She's said she's hoping someone would have spoken with whoever was involved in Nicole's disappearance, saying criminals tend to brag about their feats.
Back in the day, DNA testing was in its infancy and so while investigators combed the building for clues, no forensic samples were collected.
Tretter said police have kept in touch with the girl who was waiting for Nicole in the lobby.
Back in 1985, that girl called Nicole from the building's telecom downstairs as they had plans to go swimming in the building's pool. Nicole said she would come right downstairs. The friend waited around 15 minutes in the lobby and then called up again but Nicole's mom said she had already left. The friend soon left to go to the pool by herself.
Nicole's mom didn't realize she was missing until later that day.
Police say they have interviewed Nicole's family and friends and all of them have been cleared of wrongdoing.
Nicole's mother passed away seven years ago but her father, who was not at the news conference Wednesday, has said to media that he is holding out hope Nicole will be found alive.
