In the summer of 1975, an elderly First Nations woman named Helen Jordan vanished from the streets of Thunder Bay, Ontario, leaving behind a mystery that has endured for decades. On July 17, 1975, Helen was last seen on a bench in the vicinity of 84 South Cumberland Street, an area she was known to frequent. At the time of her disappearance, she was described as being 5'2' tall and weighing approximately 110 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
When she was last observed, she was wearing a blue jacket and green pants or slacks. Her disappearance prompted concern, and a missing person case was opened, but the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into years, with no sign of Helen.
The circumstances surrounding Helen Jordan's disappearance remain largely unknown, with few public details available about the investigation that followed. Her case is a quiet but poignant reminder of the many Indigenous women who have gone missing across Canada. The area where she was last seen, the Cumberland Street area, was a familiar locale for her, suggesting she was in a place she knew well before she disappeared. The lack of information and the passage of so much time have made the search for answers increasingly difficult, leaving her family and community with unresolved questions.
Over the years, Helen Jordan's case has become one of many cold cases in Ontario. Her disappearance is a somber thread in the larger tapestry of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada, a national tragedy that has devastated countless families and communities. The overview of this case is one of sudden absence and enduring uncertainty. An elderly woman, a member of a First Nations community, was last seen in a familiar urban setting and then was gone without a trace. Despite the passage of over four decades, the hope for answers and for justice for Helen Jordan persists.Last Seen: Jul 17, 1975
