Syracuse, N.Y. — A pregnant 13-year-old girl left her home in Canada 60 years ago and never returned. Now, police in Ontario believe she wound up in Syracuse and are seeking the public’s help finding her.
Noreen Anne Greenley left her home in the Ontario town of Bowmanville on Sept. 14, 1963, and has not been seen or heard from since.
The Durham Regional Police Service took over the investigation in 1995 and investigated numerous theories relating to her disappearance, but they have not been able to find her.
On Sunday, police reached out to the public in Syracuse for help in finding Greenley, who would be 73 if she is still alive.
At the time she disappeared, her family told police she was pregnant and left of her own volition. Police said she is believed to have gone to Oshawa, a town 22 miles west of Bowmanville on the northern shore of Lake Ontario.
She then traveled to the nearby town of Whitby, where she stayed for about three weeks with a couple named Mary and Gary Benson, police said. She and another girl then crossed Lake Ontario to Rochester in a 40-foot cabin cruiser called the “Mary Bell” owned by a man named Franko, investigators said.
Police said Greenley is believed to have then traveled to Syracuse, where she stayed at a motel or in cabins and later gave birth to a baby boy.
Investigators said several phone numbers have been identified as of interest in the case. The owners of the phone numbers are not known. Police are asking that anyone familiar with these numbers contact investigators:
- 781-1373
- 925-3654
- 745-9145
Anyone with information about Greenley’s whereabouts is asked to contact their local police department. In the Durham Region in Ontario, a dedicated tip line has been set up at 1-888 579-1520, ext. 5444.
Anonymous information can be sent to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca. Police said tipsters may be eligible for a $2,000 cash ($1,480 US) reward.
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