In late summer 1981, 15-year-old John Patrick McCormick went missing from his family farm in rural Caledon, Ontario. On Monday, August 24, John—described as having blonde hair, blue eyes and a lean build—was spending the day with his friend Eric Larsfolk. The boys were seen driving a field car around the property; when John did not return home that evening his family grew worried.

That night Eric’s parents initially assumed he was still at the McCormick house. John’s mother later came to the Larsfolk home to ask whether they had seen her son. A search of the property turned up the abandoned field car near a gravel pit about a kilometer from the McCormick residence. Footprints belonging to the boys were found on the farm, but they provided no clear direction. The search continued into the next day and then involved law enforcement, though darkness had hampered the initial effort.

Decades later the disappearances of John and Eric remain unresolved and are classified as a non-family abduction. Investigators at times focused on individuals, including a prime suspect who is now deceased, but a lack of new leads has left the case open and the families without answers. Did anyone in Caledon in August 1981 see John or Eric near the gravel pit or the McCormick property?