Someone Knows Something - The Next Call with David Ridgen: Episode 4 in the case of Melanie Ethier

Episode Date: October 12, 2021

A closer look at the alibi of a person who has been on Celine’s radar for a while.

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The following episode contains difficult subject matter and references to sexual assault. So, please take care. I didn't really understand what he was talking about. Like a couple times he came here, Melanie, and he named another girl. And I'm sure he said he'll never find them. So, now I was outside having a cigarette, and Melanie just had disappeared a few days ago. And I'm not sure if he walked up, I don't remember the truck or anything. Jocelyn Martel, telling her story for the first time, was sitting on her mother-in-law's porch on the morning Melanie Ethier went missing. She says she learned about Mel being missing from Dennis LeVay, say come, we have to find her. She has to be somewhere.

And he had scratches on his arm, on his left arm. And I asked him, how'd you get scratched? He says, well, I'm in the woods looking for her. He talked about going to get my brother's dog. My brother had a German Shepherd. So when you asked Dennis how he got these scratches on his arm, what exactly did he say? Do you remember Dennis specifically saying that branches made the scratches? Céline Ethier and Sylvie Chartrand have both told me that Dennis claimed that Melanie made the scratches while play fighting with him.

Here, Dennis says they were caused by branches while he was looking for Melanie in the woods. To me, the wrestling excuse is problematic enough, but if Dennis changed the story, this takes it to a new level of intrigue. Okay, and can you describe the scratches, what they look like to you? They were like, almost like finger scratches. You know, like a part that wasn't like, there were gaps in between. And then he pulled down his shirt, like he had a long-sleeve shirt. After I mentioned that, he put down his shirt, because he was talking with his hand,

and the shirt came up a bit, and he was scratched. Can you describe the color of the scratches? Yeah, it was fresh, maybe a day or two. They were red, but starting to scab. Okay. Could you describe how wide each scratch was? Like, were they really thick scratches, or how wide were they, would you say? Like in millimeters. More than a branch.

I'd say like a nail. Yeah. The width of a nail? Yeah. And how long down the arm were they? Well, like I said, he put his shirt down, but what I could see, it would have kept on because they were too wide to stop, you know what I mean? Yeah, right, so you couldn't see the end of them. Yeah, that's right. Okay, and then what did he do?

Once he put his shirt down, what happened? He was very nervous, then he changed subjects, like, he says, I'm going to go get Lionel's dog, and he left after that. Lionel Martel is Jocelyn's brother and was one of Dennis Lavey's best friends. When he arrived, was he talking about Melanie, or did he only start talking about Melanie after he noticed the scratches? No, he was talking about Melanie. Okay.

He was trying to help in the woods, and yeah. And at the time, did you just say, oh, he must have gotten it from branches? Did you wonder about it at the time? Yeah, I really had a bad feeling. A really bad feeling. Did you ever go to police with that? No, no.

Okay. No. No. It was just a feeling, see? You didn't think it was as important as that at the time? No, I didn't. You don't think a feeling, see? You didn't think it was as important as that at the time? No, I didn't. You don't think like that, eh? Dennis, he never really defended himself saying he never did it or anything like that?

Never, never. Even, yeah, no, never. And that would have been the first thing he would have done, I think. Jocelyn leaves me with more questions. Did Dennis tell anyone else that his scratches came from tree branches? Why was he interested in Lionel's dog? And are there any other oddities

spread across the stories he's told? I just had a bad feeling with the scratch. I'm David Ridgen, and welcome to The Next Call, episode four in the case of Melanie Ethier. I'm going to call Lionel Martel, Jocelyn's brother. Hello? Hi, is this Lionel? Yes, this is Lionel.

Hi, Lionel, it's David Ritchin calling. The opportunity to talk to Jocelyn's brother Lionel comes up as I'm driving, so I pull off to a quiet location to make the call. What's your connection to Dennis LeVay? Dennis was my best friend. I don't know. I'm kind of blown away by what happened, you know? Because I heard of things too, and I don't know, it puts him right there, right?

So it's kind of... Did Dennis ever talk to you about Melanie? Never. No. He would say her name sometimes, but he was always so high too, eh? Like, always stoned on perks, and he was on crack for a while. He was on perciceps,

and, you know, he was on heavy stuff. And was that back in the 90s, say 96, when Melanie disappeared? Was Dennis using drugs like that? Yes. Can you tell me a bit about Dennis' personality? What kind of person he was when you were around him? What made you guys best friends? Like, we got along good and, you know, like, we went fishing, and there

were all kinds of things. We hung around. I ask Lionel if he knows anything about Dennis' whereabouts over the weekend that Melanie disappeared. He echoes what his sister Jocelyn just said, and makes the timing of Dennis' interaction with Jocelyn to be sometime during the day on the same Sunday that Melanie disappeared. And he continues that story. My sister was sitting down at her mother-in-law's. She was sitting outside and it was on a Sunday morning. My sister says she never saw him like that.

And Dennis said, I want to go get Lionel's dog because I had a German Shepherd to look for Melanie. So, like, you know, like, wow. Okay. And so, Lionel, did Dennis come and borrow your German Shepherd? He did. And he said the purpose for that was to go look for Melanie?

He said, I'm going to go get Lionel's dog to look for Melanie. Melanie's disappearance began to spread throughout the community on Sunday as the search widened for her. Like, that same day, I know he came and got my dog. He says, I'm going to go out with the cops to look for Melanie. I says, well, take him. So he took him, and he came back, and he said, the cops told me that you had a really good dog, Lionel.

That's interesting. Police say that they are aware that Dennis assisted in the volunteer ground search and are aware of the information that he borrowed a friend's dog to assist him with searching at some point. And Dennis had some previous assault charges? Yeah, young girls. Lionel tells me a story about the daughter of one of his relatives. How did you find out that she had been drugged?

Did he tell you that or did somebody else tell you that? It would probably be somebody I know close to my family, maybe my sister Joss, or I can't remember. And Dennis served some time for some of these charges, did he? Apparently, he never told me. He told me that he went to his uncle's farm in Alberta. I see, so you thought he, I mean, he didn't tell you he was actually in jail. Yeah, he went working for my uncle. He needed help he, I mean, he didn't tell you he was actually in jail. Yeah, he went working for my uncle. He needed help, so I went up there. And did you ever witness any behavior from Dennis with regards to that kind of thing?

Yes, I did. I went to Toronto to pick up my brother at the airport, and he offered to come with me. And we stopped on this little boutique there was a young girl that was working inside and me i was looking around and dennis went to her right away and started talking like hitting on her i guess and she she buzzed the thing there was a buzzer because an old lady came in not too long after and uh when we got in the truck, I told him, I said, Hey, I said, what are you doing with this girl? Oh, did you see her? She was beautiful. I said, Dennis, she's only 15.

He said, oh no, she's a lot older than that. Anyways, I just, you know. I ask Lionel if he remembers when the incident with the young girl he says Dennis drugged happened. While he's not clear on the date, he does remember another girl and another incident. Oh God, it would have been... Because I heard he drugged another girl too. And she had taken him to court. I don't know. I heard that he had drugged her and another girl. and in all your time with him

and the kinds of things you did with him he would never talk about any of this he would never talk about any of his charges other than this incident with the girl in the store in the boutique never never Never. Never. I'm sure he had a truck. A truck, eh? I asked Lionel what kind of vehicle Dennis drove at the time. I'm sure he had a truck. A truck, eh? It was white.

White? Yeah. He was really, really on heavy, heavy stuff. He was really messed up. The last two years, two and a half years before he died, I didn't even see him. Like, he came here the last time and I told him to leave. Because he was so messed up. Why did you tell him to leave? What was he doing?

It didn't make sense. He was doing heavy drugs and... Me, I smoked marijuana. See, we'd come here and I'd smoke him up. Then he would pass out. Like, you know, really, really messed up. Very big man. Very, very strong.

How tall was he? He was 5'8", 5'9". He weighed 280. He was a big man. Yeah. Yeah. And you never heard him talking about Melanie? Sometimes he would when he'd be drugged up,

but I didn't really understand what he was talking about. Like, a couple times he came here, Melanie, and he named another girl. Like, I don't, I can't remember. It was a really weird name. And I'm sure he said they'll never find him. Like, it was a really weird name and I'm sure he said they'll never find them like it was really strange

he said they'll never find them? yeah and he was just saying Melanie's name or sentences about her? Melanie and another girl he said her first name or maybe her last name too because it was a really weird name

like and and i'm sure he said they'll never find them this single sentence from lionel could be very important another girl mentioned by dennis lave along with mel and they'll never find them. Interesting. And you never asked about, you never sort of explored that a little further? No. He was so high. Do you think that Dennis, could you see him doing something to Melanie? Can you see him being involved in Melanie's disappearance?

Oh God, I hope not. Sylvie and now Lionel both tell stories about this other side of Dennis. According to people I've interviewed, including Céline and Sylvie, police did not interview Dennis before he died,

but police say they looked into him. What else was hiding in plain sight? Hello? Oh, hi, Stephanie. Hi. It's taken a while, but I've finally connected with Stephanie Chartrand.

She's Dennis LaVey's daughter with Sylvie. Age 31 now, Steph was six when Melanie disappeared. I had my phone charging all night, and apparently it didn't charge at all. The line is intermittent and difficult, but the content is, I believe, potentially very important to the Ethier case. She's never spoken publicly before about any of it. So, let's just start from the beginning, I guess. Well, I knew Melanie growing up. You know, she went missing when I was six years old, but she was always at my house

because Lynn was best friends with my mom. My brother was best friends with Melanie and I was best friends with Jesse. So it was kind of like a generation thing. I have like fond little memories of the child with Melanie and I remember how much her disappearance impacted me as a young child. And do you remember the sort of period around when she disappeared? Well, the only thing I remember is being like afraid all the time. And I remember Celine being around and helicopters and all that stuff. Like it was kind of a blur, but very intense. It's kind

of hard to explain for me. Is there any theory or information that you've heard that you find more credible about what might have happened to Mel? I feel like the more that I've been reflecting on certain things and that more things have been brought to my attention, I feel like it would kind of make sense that my father would have some involvement in it. So tell me about that. I mean, it's hard for me to try to wrap my mind around that that could very well be the reality of the situation.

But I knew my father as my dad, as a man, as a friend. And my dad, he had a lot of demons. And I could see how some of his issues and things that he's done would point to the possibility that he very could well have done it. I don't think it's far-fetched to think that he could have done it. What are some of the things that come to mind when you think about your father? Well, I mean, my dad had issues with, he's tried to have sexual encounters with quite a few of my friends growing up. Like, as I was a teenager, it started when I was 14. My dad did have that side of him that was a sexual predator.

I've seen it firsthand when, you know, I was at a party and my dad was there and my friend needed a ride home. And my dad looked different at that part of the evening. And I felt the need to watch which direction he went in the car with her. And when I seen that he turned the opposite way he was supposed to, I just knew it in my heart, you know, that something bad was happening. So I had to run to my friend's house to see if she had made it home safely, and she hadn't. And when my dad pulled up, I could tell what his intentions were. Like, he had this side of him.

You could see, like, a switch in his face when he would go to that place. And it was very apparent that he was a sexual predator for underage girls. Like, it happened at least six times in my knowledge. Six times where people, six times where your friends have come forward and said, your father assaulted me? Well, more or less, like, where he would ask them to have sex with him, or he would ask them sexual questions that would lead to him you know eventually putting himself out there and asking for sexual favors or in that area but yes like these girls have come forward to me my dad was charged twice for trying to have sex

with underage girls which were my friends and he's tried with many others that just didn't go forward to you know law enforcement but yeah he did what were the two cases that you can remember your father being charged for my friend uh at the time uh she was 14 he tried to sexually assault her in my house while me and my mom was sleeping he did go to jail for that, I believe, for a little bit, but he did get acquitted of the charges because he had a very good lawyer. And he did a repeat offense,

which I believe would have been in 2014, and he actually pled guilty at that time. He was in jail for quite a few months. And did police ever talk to your dad in regards to Melanie's case? In regards to Melanie, no. Police tell me they looked at Dennis before he died, but won't say more. Stephanie says police only spoke to her for the first time the week before I did. I asked Stephanie to tell me about the time Céline went to talk to Dennis about Mel's disappearance.

So that was just the same week of my dad's stroke. My mom ended up telling my dad that Céline wanted to speak with him regarding Melanie's disappearance. And the day of my dad's stroke, I ended up coming to visit him. So I had a dentist appointment, so I came to town and I knocked on the door and my dad answered and he was very, very antsy. And he asked me to go on the side of the house and have a smoke with him in our spot. And he was pacing back and forth. And then he'd always sit and he'd run his thumb and his finger over his mustache up and down and that was always when my dad was nervous or pensive he would do that so I was like what's wrong dad and he's like well Celine wants to

talk to me um I need to talk to the police about Melanie so I said okay I said that's fine he's like can you come with me I said yeah for sure I'll go with you he's like can you talk for me and I was like dad I was sick like they don't want to talk to me they want to talk to you and then he was like fuck you know I gotta be honest like it's not making me feel good and I was like well what do you have to worry about I said you were with Jason, Joelle and Andre I said you have an alibi we're gone fishing on a fishing trip. And he's like, no, we weren't. So I thought that was odd, because my whole life he's stuck to the same story that he was gone on a fishing trip.

And he's like, but we weren't. And I said, well, what do you mean? Like, it took him a bit to answer. I remember, like, it's so vivid in my mind mind because it's the last conversation I had with my dad, so it's not hard for me to remember. He was just looking down at his feet and it took maybe like a minute to answer and then he looked up at me and he's like,

no, we were in North Bay. Steph says Dennis tells her that instead of a fishing trip, he was at a motocross competition. Motocross being dirt bikes on a hilly, circuitous dirt track, and North Bay being about a two-hour drive from New Liskard. I will be trying to corroborate this motocross version of Dennis' alibi with the others who were supposedly there. Dennis' stepson Jason, Jason's friend Joel,

and of course, Dennis' brother, Andre. And I was like, really? Like, I guess I wore it on my face looking at him like, what the hell is going on here, you know, for a motocross? And then he told me that he had taken my Aunt Sherry's car. And I thought that that was a weird thing to bring up because if he was gone to motocross, then they would have used one of their trucks. You know, to haul a motocross, it would make no sense that he would take a little car.

Aunt Sherry was Andre's spouse, and her car is believed to have been a beige Ford Tempo hatchback or a blue Toyota Tercel hatchback. But I'm looking for confirmations on that. Dennis specifically said he used Aunt Sherry's car. I said, Aunt Sherry's car is if you're at motocross, how could you pull a motocross? And then he didn't answer me and he was getting upset. And then that's when he said, to be honest with you, it's making me not feel good.

And he was holding his chest. And he was sweaty and he was not nice colors that's for sure and I told him I said just chill out like it's fine dad so he was just getting very um defensive after that when I started to question him you know and then I got up and I said well I'm sorry to leave you like this, but I got to go to the dentist. And then he followed me through the house to, you know, bring me to the door. And I said, I love you. And he's like, yeah, I love you. That was it. That was the last conversation I ever had with my dad. on the living room floor. So, you know, we rushed him to the hospital.

And then after that, my dad couldn't speak. Did your dad at any time say, I guess in that conversation or any other one, did he say, look, I didn't kill Mel? Did he ever deny killing Mel? No. He never said, I didn't kill Mel. This is, you know, stupid that they're talking to me. No.

Okay. Okay. Which is a good point to bring up. I don't know why he would have never said that. And did you ever ask him directly? Did you say, Dad, did you have something to do with Mel's disappearance? No, never. Because, like I say, the only time that I started to look at him as there being a possibility was the day of his stroke.

If I was given more time, I would have asked him, but I didn't get the chance to. Céline did try to talk to Dennis before his stroke, but got nowhere. And when she went to see him after his stroke, Dennis couldn't speak. He could just say, like, all the way, all the way, like that's all he could say. So it was really touch and go for Céline to be able to get anything out of him at that point. Dennis LeVay died on January 8, 2016. He was 51.

Andre is Stephanie's uncle, and I've been trying to reach him to see if he can confirm his brother Dennis' alibi. So I ask about him. Did you ever talk to Andre about that weekend? Well, Andre, he's a different character. You can't really get anything out of him. I know that he's very defensive around that whole situation. I never point blank asked him, but I did speak to him just trying to see what he would say.

And he said, this is ridiculous. They have nothing nothing so now they want to pick on the dead he's like your dad is not a person you would give the shirt off his back and I told him I said well Andre like my dad I said the only reason why this is being questioned is because my dad showed Celine that he had marks on his arm and he's like well what marks and I said no like he legitimately had marks like nail marks in his arm and he told Celine they were from Melanie from play fighting and he was like well that's weird and like that was it like then he just changed the subject so Andre's like it's hard to come at him in a certain way. He's very defensive and he's very arrogant. So I never really went deeper than that with him. Then something Sylvie said

about Dennis working overseas comes to mind and I focus back on him. Dennis away from home for longish periods in different countries. And your mom said that your father traveled quite a bit, like overseas and for work or elsewhere? Oh yeah. He was in Mongolia, in Chile, you name it. Africa, he went everywhere. And how long would he stay away when he went? Months. I think his longest run was almost five months. He had no choice to work at that point because we were going to lose our house and vehicles, so my dad decided to go to work.

The best money was overseas, right? There was a period of, I'd say, four years of my life where he was not around very much. Considering what Lionel told me earlier about Dennis saying they'll never find them, I wonder about Dennis and other cases, in or even outside of Ontario, abroad. All my own speculation, but I wonder if police would consider tracking Dennis' travels with this in mind. I've raised this question with police, and they tell me they are aware of Dennis's international work history and no further comment on the matter. Back to Stephanie.

Do you remember him ever talking about Melanie? About Melanie? Yeah. I mean, he used to always say that whoever took her must have been really strong because he remembers wrestling with her and she was very strong. And he would often tell us that the day that we find out who did it, he was going to kill them. You know, he ended up diving deep into drugs when he went into Mongolia because he ran out of his prescription medication for his pain. So he ended up doing a lot of cocaine. I believe it's when he was in Colombia. And when he came back, he told me that he had a dream that he was the one who killed Melanie. And it

really, really bothered him for quite some time, actually. It really messed with him. And how did he tell you about that dream? Did it just, hey, hon, I had a dream that I killed Melanie? Or how did it come up? Well, we were just sitting in our sunroom talking, and he was telling me stories about when he was working away. And then he was like, oh, yeah. He's like, and I ended up having this dream while I was there that I was the one that killed Melanie.

And he said he couldn't stop throwing up. He said it bothered him very deeply. And you can tell as he was talking about it, like it was still affecting him, this dream. And I told him, I said, well, Dad, it's just a dream. Like, don't let it get to you like that. He's like, I know, but it makes me sick to my stomach. And that was it. And that was it.

You just never brought it up again. No. And how do you think about your dad now? Me and my dad always had a complicated relationship. He was more like my child. Like, I always took care of him because he'd always get himself into messes and it was always me that got him out of his troubles

and I was always there for him, which, you know, I kind of look back now and I think, what the hell? Because he put me through the wringer so much. But I think it's because I just always worried about him. And the grieving process for my dad has been a roller coaster, you know. There's a lot of hurt, a lot of hate, and mixed emotions around the whole thing. There's just something that I forgot to mention.

My whole life, I didn't know this, but after my dad passed away, we got his medical files, and it is listed in there that he was split personality, and we didn't know, which would explain a lot. You know what I mean?

I always blamed it on the drugs, where, like, sometimes I'd accuse him of being high, but maybe he wasn't. But my dad was never treated or medicated for this mental condition that he had. It says in the file split personality that's what it says? Yeah. Split personality refers to dissociative identity disorder a psychological condition where a person's identity becomes fragmented into two or more distinct identities or alters.

In some cases, memories are not shared between alters. It is complex, on a spectrum, and firm diagnoses are hard to come by. I mean, me and my mom looked at each other. We were shocked. We didn't even know. Where did that diagnosis come from? A family doctor or somewhere else? Well, I don't remember which doctor it was listed under who diagnosed him, but it's there in his files. I asked for more information about this diagnosis, and Steph says she will look through a recently flooded basement for the files.

Could take some time. I want to hear more about this from Steph. Let's say it was about a month before his stroke where we were sitting and we had lots of like life conversations. You know, we're both smokers. We go sit outside and smoke and talk and we were having a great time. And then all of a sudden his face changed and his whole demeanor got different. And this is what I mean. Like when my dad would, you could see the shift in him where he would get like weird and I just looked at him and I

sensed like a really bad energy and I said dad you want to hurt me right now eh and then he just looked up at me like in shock and he was like I'm so sorry and he started crying he's like I don't know why I don't know why I want to hurt you right now. And I was like, okay. Like, I just thought it was really weird. But he was, like, so shocked that I felt his vibe, you know? And it was strange. On another occasion after his stroke,

Steph tells me the story of a private investigator, some kind of law enforcement agent, coming to visit Dennis in his hospital room to talk to him about Mel. This could be the moment where police say they spoke to Dennis before he died, I'm not sure. Steph went to be with her father as support during this visit. So I sat on the bed next to him and I said, you know, dad, it's okay. And then he started to like get really, really upset. He was still crying when I showed up. But then he like he only had one hand that worked that wasn't paralyzed.

He gestured to me with his finger to come closer to him. And I didn't like the look he had on his face. So I was hesitant. But I went anyways. And I was wearing a scarf. And he pulled down on my scarf which started to choke me and he brought me closer to him and then he put his hand around my neck and then I pulled away and I was like dad what are you doing like why are you trying to hurt

me and then he pointed his finger like you know like when you wave your finger in somebody's face and he was looking at me and I said, it's okay, dad. I'll just tell them not to come back. And then he gestured his head like, okay, like, yeah. And then that was it. And I thought it was really strange. I don't know what he was thinking in his head, but he literally tried to strangle me over it.

He was just kind of like an overgrown child. Like was just i don't know it's hard to explain but then there was the dark side of him you know where he was an addict and he he was a predator and so this is what i mean when i say like grieving my dad was different because it feels like grieving two different people you know? Dennis being two different people is a theme I've heard from those closest to him. A front-facing side that kept Sylvie in the dark for 37 years and his daughter supporting him in hospital, and the other side of jail and predatory assaults.

It's a theme that takes me back to the scratches and Melanie. Do you remember seeing him play fight with Melanie? I guess we were quite young, but do you remember ever seeing them play fight? Never, and it doesn't even make sense to me that that would have happened because my dad was so sore all the time. I don't see him just get up and be like, yeah, we're going to play fight. Who does that? I never went to my friend's house and started play fighting with her dad. That doesn't make any sense to me.

I've never seen him throw down and be like, we're going to have a wrestling match. The timing of it doesn't make sense to me either because Sylvie said that Melanie had been there the day she disappeared, but that your dad wasn't there. So she doesn't understand the explanation about the scratches. It doesn't make any sense because he wouldn't have seen her in that time frame.

And Celine said that he showed her those marks three days after Melanie went missing and she said they were still raw. Because Melanie went to see my mom the day she went missing and my dad was already gone, like on whatever trip he was on. Dennis, alone or maybe with others, leaves on Friday to go somewhere. Fishing or motocross are possibilities.

But Celina's also said she heard Dennis admit he was at a strip club over that weekend. And then Dennis is allegedly back by the Sunday morning of Melanie's disappearance. Research shows that there was one or two motocross racetracks around the area, which were possibly operational at the time. But I have yet to find any indication of an event that weekend. And you spoke to police recently about this? Yeah. And is that the first time you've ever talked to police about it?

Yeah. It's all kind of come together've ever talked to police about it? Yeah. It's all kind of come together at once and then maybe come down a bit heavy on certain people like yourself. Yeah. I'm able to kind of separate the fact that it's my dad and I just want justice for Mel. If he's guilty of doing this, it's just horrendous. You know, like I've seen Céline suffer as long as I can remember. And I'm a mom, you know, if anybody did something like that to one of my children, like I think she's handled this with grace, really. She's a spectacular person. But, you know, bottom line, all I care about is Melanie being found. Justice for Mo.

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Jessie Ethier, Melanie's only sibling. She now lives in southern Ontario. Jessie was quite young when Mel went missing and the majority of her life has been dominated by her sister's disappearance. But Celine told me that speaking to Jessie about Mel could be healing for her. So I've called.

How old were you at the time that Mel disappeared then? I was five. I remember she used to take me everywhere with her. So if she was going out rollerblading, we'd go out together and we'd go play basketball. We'd play mini putt and she would bring me to the park all the time. So I feel like whenever my mom either needed a break or was like off to work or whatever she would just be in charge of me she was almost like a second mom and did celine your mom did she ever sort of try to explain to you what was going on or i don't remember her ever saying like mel's not coming back i don't think she's ever said that like still to this day she doesn't tell me anything so a lot of the things that I know is because I've made posts on my sister's page

and people have come forward to me with information. Jessie has interacted on a Facebook group to try generating tips. I mean, being Mel's sister up there is really not easy. Everybody knows you or knows of you. I think it's kind of like that for everybody but for me it was like everybody knew me because of that right once I was a teenager going out by myself it was like random people in Walmart or any store grocery store or whatever they'd be like oh did you guys hear anything like constant and especially if I'm walking with my mom right because it's a little obvious who we

are when we were together but honestly I did feel safe-ish growing up there but there is a lot of racism so that was always something that I questioned as well it was like was it a hit on her because she's black a lot of name calling like the n-word is used or was used so often even as like a six-year-old like I remember jumping from school to school just to get away from it right I've pretty well been in every single school in that town and surrounding areas because of it so yeah it wasn't the best growing up until I hit about high school. Like high school age, people were like, oh, like we wish we were black. But as an elementary school student, especially in the French schools, I feel like there was a lot more racism.

Did you encounter any kind of violence? Was anybody sort of interested in bullying you physically or verbally? Yeah, there was a lot of that. Yeah, for me as a parent now, I did not want to raise my kids there because I didn't want them to go through it. Mind you, I think at that point in time, it was starting to become normal, I guess. So there's a lot more people of color moving into town, but I could probably still count them on two hands. Obviously I lost, like, my best friend,

and I do want justice, and I don't want them to walk freely and live a better life. I don't. I don't have a sister anymore. I can imagine, and I can hear it in your voice. It's been a pretty tough run for you. Yeah. And my questions are about to make it tougher. So I don't know if you have any memories of Dennis.

What can you tell me about Dennis? Drug addict. Used to just hang out in his garage and do drugs and drink beers. Yeah, like I remember a lot of stuff because like we were really close to that family. Sylvie talked to you about him? I have talked to Sylvie, yeah. What? Okay. Yeah.

Dennis basically tried sleeping with me when I was like 15 years old. He always tried to be like the cool dad. And I think it was when his father passed away, he reached out to me. And he was like, hey, would you mind coming to my mom's house to clean the house? Because she's just been a mess and she hasn't done anything around the house. So I was like, okay, sure. He was like, I'll throw you some extra cash. At the time, Jessie says she was living alone in a nearby town, working and homeschooling herself. He ended up picking me up. He ended up driving to New Liskerd,

just us two. But his mom lived in North Cobalt, which is a complete different direction. I lived in Halliburys, so I lived in the middle of the two places. Right. So he brought me to the complete opposite direction, to New Lister. And he went to the LCBO. He stopped in the middle of the bush somewhere to pick up drugs. He was just like, oh, I need to pick something up. And then he stopped at a motel room. So he said his mom and him weren't getting along. And he said he was getting with Mattel Room.

After picking up liquor and drugs, Dennis took Jesse to a hotel on the outskirts of New Liskard. And yeah, so I was just like, hey, whatever. So he's like, I'm just going to like pay for my Mattel Room, drop my clothes in there. And then I'll drive you to my mom's to go clean the house. And I was like okay but I had a boyfriend in high school at the time so I was like I had plans to go to his house on the weekend so um I was like I have to be at the school at like 2 45 like we're wasting cleaning time you know so he ended up renting the motel room and then he drove around back it's like by the husky gas station so he drove around the back opened his door and

then he was like are you gonna come in i was like well you're just dropping your stuff right and he's like well just come in for a minute and i was like i'll just wait here he's like, well, just come in for a minute. And I was like, I'll just wait here. He's like, no, no, just come in. So I felt so pressured. I was like, this is so weird. Why is he asking me to go in this motel room? Right. And then I went in and I just sat at the door. There was like a chair there. And then he ended up doing a line of cocaine in front of me. And he went in the bathroom, took all of his clothes off, and he came out in a towel. And he asked me if I wanted a line of drugs. And I didn't do drugs then or ever. So I was just like, what is this guy doing?

And my phone was dying so I sent a text message to my boyfriend and I was like if I'm not at the buses at 2 45 you need to call the police and tell them that I'm in I didn't even know what room number I was in I was just like I'm in the back of the whatever motel it was and he was freaking out because he was in class it was just like what's going on I was like I'm in the back of the whatever motel it was and he was freaking out because he was in class it was just like what's going on I was like I need to turn my phone off in case I need to reopen it before it dies and Dennis went and sat at the end of the bed and he was like looking at me he was describing my body naked and he had locked the door when he came out of the bathroom in the towel. He locked, I think there was like two or three locks on the door. Jessie, a teenager, now in a locked motel room with Dennis.

What she describes next is difficult to hear. And then he did another line of drugs. He was ready to crack open some alcohol. Describing my body naked being really weird he's like oh i would eat you out all day like you don't even have to do nothing and i was like dennis i have a boyfriend i need to go i thought i was supposed to clean your mom's house today i i didn't know how to handle the situation i was breaking out internally and i was trying to like remind him like i was supposed out internally. And I was trying to, like, remind him, like, I was supposed to clean your mom's house.

You know I have a boyfriend. You're Steph's dad. I've known you my whole life. It was so awkward. There was a hot tub in the room. He literally dropped his towel, got in the hot tub, and I just sat there staring at my phone, pretending it was on

like fake texting and then he eventually got out because I was like I need to go like the buses are coming like I need to get out of the room but there's three locks and this guy was way bigger than I was I was like there's no point of me even trying to get all these three locks off the door because if I screw up, I'm screwed, right? All told, Jessie estimates she was locked in the room with Dennis for about four hours. I just sat there still and I stared at my phone and let him do his thing. And then finally he got in the car because I was like, I need to go. Like, Chad's waiting for me. He's waiting for me, whatever.

And I got to the buses right on time. Like, my boyfriend was ready to call the police. He didn't physically touch me, but he's also done this to other friends of Steph's, right? So he's pulled the whole, oh, I'll drop you off from the party, like, drops off his own daughter first and then drives them home. of Steph's, right? So he's pulled the whole, oh, I'll drop you off from the party, like drops off his own daughter first and then drives them home. Jessie runs through a list of names of girls she says she knows a similar situation happened

to with Dennis. And I've confirmed accounts from a few of these victims where I'm able. And everybody was around 15, 16, like really young. After what happened with Dennis, Jessie says she stayed away from the family and eventually cut off ties. I couldn't care less about that family, to be honest. I found it really weird when I... So it was almost like a daily thing we saw each other growing up. We would go and eat poutine together

or we would hang out at their house in Halle Berry or we'd go to the park together. Was it really surprising to you then when this happened or were you stunned? I knew that he had done it to other friends of Steph's so I was like this is happening to me now and I was like how is this happening? Because like he was almost like a father figure type deal because I saw him so much. We would always hang out in the garage with him and another uncle and they would like play with their bikes or their skidoos or whatever and always like cool dad type of guy. But then when we became teenagers it was like he's like creepy dad kind of guy.

Jessie describes another occasion at a cabin Dennis had rented near a nearby vacation spot where she and Steph walked in after Dennis had been smoking crack. It makes me wonder about what others have said about his personality changes and the effect drug taking might have had. Yeah, multiple occasions. It was like drugs and always alcohol involved with him. On that incident that you were describing when you went to the hotel room, did you notice any kind of a change in him?

Like, did he seem like the same person or did you feel like there was a different person in front of you? Did he feel like a different guy, kind of? He was definitely the same guy when he picked me up after he did that line of drugs it was like when he started doing drugs in front of me i was like well this isn't normal i don't know i don't like he was obviously a pedophile because it was always these young girls and at that moment it did hit me because I was like,

what if he is involved in Mel's disappearance? Because it's always girls around Mel's age. When you're thinking about Dennis with regards to Mel, what's your thoughts on that now? Because I think you've had some time to think about that. I don't know like still to say because like I know around that time I was like this guy like has to be involved right but I don't know if it was I don't know

it seems like just at the time when people were trying to question him, he died. And I think that there were opportunities for questioning him that I've heard of. Yeah, like, well, I never really thought he would have done anything to me, to be honest. I didn't see him as that person until that incident happened. I don't know. I've never actually told my mom about it either. Conversations like this take a toll and are hard on subjects, but Jessie has given an invaluable eyewitness account of how Dennis LeVay used to operate, and I'm grateful.

I wish you the best. Thanks so much, Jessie. Okay, thanks. Okay, take care. Bye. Bye-bye. Dennis LeVay drew attention to himself in the way a child who has done something wrong

signals that they've done so by telling stories that parallel the truth or contain elements of truth. The story changed about the scratches there from Mel or from branches while looking for Mel, where he was that weekend, fishing or motocross, a strip club, has a history of sexual advances on teenage girls, the daughters of friends, sexually harassed Melanie's sister, has dreams,

he says, where he is Mel's killer, Stories of a drug-addled, volatile personality. Mentions of Mel's name along with another female they will never find. All of it seems to point in the direction we're all thinking, and even members of his family have contemplated. I need to talk to the others who were supposedly with Dennis across the weekend Melanie disappeared. His stepson Jason, Jason's friend Joel, and produced by me, David Ridgen. The series is also produced by Hadil Abdel-Nabi.

Our senior producer and sound design lead is Cecil Fernandez. Emily Canal is our digital producer and our story editor is Chris Oak. The executive producer of CBC Podcasts is Araf Noorani. To see images from the investigation, find us on Facebook and Instagram at CBC Podcasts. And if you're looking for another podcast to listen to, check out The Village from CBC Podcasts. Season 2 of the award-winning series is available now. Find The Village on the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.