In the cold of a Canadian winter, a man named Dennis Melvyn Howe vanished from Toronto, Ontario. It was January of 1983 when the 42-year-old was last definitively seen. On January 24th, he was at his place of work located at 333 Spadina Avenue. However, his disappearance was not reported as a typical missing person case, as it was inextricably linked to a dark and tragic event that had just unfolded.
In the days leading up to his disappearance, a nine-year-old girl named Sharin' Morningstar Keenan had gone missing from a local park on Brunswick Avenue on January 23, 1983. The search for the young girl would soon lead investigators to the rooming house where Howe resided.
The investigation into Sharin's disappearance took a grim turn on February 1, 1983. During a door-to-door search, police entered a residence on Brunswick Avenue and made a heartbreaking discovery inside a refrigerator. The young girl's body was found, and it was determined she had been sexually assaulted and strangled. The room where she was found was rented by Dennis Melvyn Howe, who was nowhere to be found. Investigators quickly identified him as the primary suspect, and a Canada-wide warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of first-degree murder. At the time he vanished, Howe was described as being approximately five-foot-nine with brown hair and brown eyes. He had several distinguishing marks, including crooked little fingers, a half-inch scar under the left side of his chin, a scar on his right thumb, and a birthmark on the right side of his chest. Authorities also noted he was left-handed, had very poor dental hygiene, and was a heavy smoker and user of drugs and alcohol.
Over the many years that have passed since he was last seen, the search for Dennis Melvyn Howe has continued, leaving a case that remains a painful open wound for the community and the victim's family. He had a significant criminal history prior to 1983, having spent nearly 15 years in a Saskatchewan penitentiary for assaulting women and girls before his release on mandatory supervision in 1982. There have been unconfirmed sightings and leads in various locations over the decades, but none have led to his capture. Law enforcement possesses his DNA and fingerprints, which have been used to eliminate potential matches and could one day confirm his identity, whether he is found alive or deceased. The disappearance of Dennis Melvyn Howe is not the story of a man who simply went missing; it is the story of a fugitive who vanished after being linked to a horrific crime, leaving behind a legacy of unanswered questions and a quest for justice that has spanned generations.Last Seen: Jan 24, 1983
