Decades after a toddler inexplicably disappeared from a street in Brantford, Ont., investigators are once again revisiting the case.
Three-year-old Jimmy Paige was last seen riding his bike with his older brother and a friend on Spring Street on March 23, 1963.
The trio had been circling the block when suddenly Jimmy was nowhere to be found.
“We would go around the block, three of us on our bike, just normal, everyday kind of occurrence for us,” Jimmy’s older brother Michael Paige recalled. “We went around maybe twice, turned around and no Jim.”
Michael was five-years-old when he last saw his brother.
“We went around backwards, forwards, then I ran back home and said to mom, ‘I can’t find Jim.’ Everything went crazy after that.
Searching for Jimmy
In the days that followed, more than 200 people joined the search effort, combing through the neighbourhood and surrounding areas.
No one ever discovered what happened to Jimmy, however another child was found playing with his toy tractor.
“It’s just tough. We ran around looking for him. We could not find him. It’s just very frustrating,” Michael said.
At the time, police considered the possibility that the toddler had wandered into the nearby Grand River.
“I personally can’t see how a three-year-old is going to make four blocks by himself. He never knew how to cross the street to begin with,” Michael said.
“I still don’t buy that story, because if he was in the river, the river always gives up its dead. Always.”
Still no answers
Sixty-three years have passed, but the uncertainty and pain remains.
“It’s like a piece is missing and my brother’s just having to live with this,” Janice Balicki, Michael and Jimmy’s sister, said. “And my mom too, wondering if he’s still alive somewhere.”
The family still hopes someone may have information about what happened to Jimmy.
“Somebody knows something. At least, I’m hoping somebody knows something,” Michael said.
Renewed focus
The Brantford Police Service’s major crime unit is reviewing the case with help from the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains.
“That’s why they’ve reopened the case for us. It was never really closed, but it was considered a cold case,” Michael said.
As part of the renewed investigation, family members have submitted DNA to a national database in hopes of identifying potential matches.
“Our DNA has been sent to the [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] database, so we’re hoping that there could be some sort of match,” Balicki said.
“As this is an active ongoing investigation, we can’t speak about this specific case,” a spokesperson with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in an email statement to CTV News. ”We can only speak in general terms about the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains (NCMPUR)’s role which includes the National Missing Persons DNA Program (NMPDP). The RCMP can confirm that the NCMPUR is presently assisting with this investigation through the NMPDP.”
Jimmy’s family is urging anyone who has information to come forward.
After searching for more than 60 years, they said their goal remains simple: to find answers and, if possible, bring closure.
“Miss you, plain and simple,” Paige said, when asked what he would say to his brother today. “I miss all the things we could have had together.”
