On the evening of May 30, 1990, in Coquitlam, British Columbia, one-month-old Harpreet Paul vanished without a trace. Harpreet, of East Indian descent, was last seen sleeping in her gray baby car seat inside her family's 1979 white-over-yellow Chrysler Córdoba. Her parents, Awtar and Daljit Paul, had parked the car in the lot near the Zellers store at the Coquitlam Shopping Centre at approximately 8:00 PM. They left the infant in the unlocked car with the windows partially rolled down for about 15 to 30 minutes while they shopped with their other two children. When they returned to the vehicle around 8:30 PM, both Harpreet and her car seat were gone. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a pink dress with lace trim and white socks.
The family immediately reported their daughter missing, prompting an extensive search of the area by law enforcement. Police scoured washrooms, dumpsters, and the surrounding brush, but found no sign of the infant.
A "Be on the Lookout" alert was issued to neighboring police detachments, border crossings, and airports. Roadblocks were also established in an effort to find her. The case, which was classified as a non-family abduction, garnered significant media attention at the time. Investigators theorized that Harpreet may have been taken by someone who wished to have a child of their own. Fingerprints were lifted from the family's vehicle, though it was not publicly revealed if any belonged to a potential suspect. Despite these efforts, no solid leads were developed in the immediate aftermath of her disappearance.
In the years that followed, Harpreet's case grew cold, leaving her family with unanswered questions and enduring grief. Her parents made several televised pleas for her safe return, and her father offered a reward for any information that might lead to her whereabouts. There were rumors of the family's potential involvement, which they publicly denied. One witness reported seeing a man, described as Caucasian and resembling actor Tom Selleck, boarding a bus with a baby around the time Harpreet vanished, though the baby's clothing did not match what Harpreet was last seen wearing. Police have not labeled this man a prime suspect but have expressed interest in identifying him. The disappearance of Harpreet Paul remains an unsolved mystery, a heart-wrenching story of a child who was there one moment and gone the next, leaving a void in the lives of her loved ones.Last Seen: May 30, 1990
