Three friends all vanished from a small, closeknit Canada town. Residents want answers

Three friends vanished from a small, close-knit Canadian town. Nobody knows what happened to them. Now, residents want answers. Martha McHardy reports

From left to right: Lawrence Bertrim, Robbie Thomson and Steve Tate (OPP)

In the small, close-knit town of Smith Falls, Ontario, three disappearances have cast an unsettling shadow over the community, leaving residents with many unanswered questions.

In the last 14 months, Lawrence Bertrim, 43, Robbie Thomson, 34, and Steve Tate, 34, have all disappeared from the Canadian town, which has a population of just 9,300.

Nobody knows what happened to the men, but rumours about their fate have spread around the town like wildfire, leaving residents unnerved.

Although police have not linked the three cases, the three men are believed to have been friends, according to local residents.

This has only added to the mystery surrounding the disappearances, and with no arrests made and nothing in the way of an explanation, the mystery remains unsolved.

Meanwhile, as time goes on, a small community is left with more questions than answers.

Here is everything we know so far:

Who are the missing men?

The mystery began in the fall of 2022 when Lawrence Bertrim, 42, disappeared.

One year later, around mid-October, his acquaintance Robbie Thomson, 34, was reported missing, followed by 34-year-old Steve Tate, whose body was found in a ditch along a rural stretch of a highway earlier this month, around four miles from where he was last seen alive near Lombard and Lavinia streets in Smiths Falls.

The exact nature of the three men’s relationship remains unknown, as well as whether their disappearances are at all connected, but all three men had a history of drug use, according to local residents, and police noted they all had similar interests.

Last week, Mr Tate’s house was raided by police as part of a drug investigation.

Three friends have gone missing from the remote Canadian town of Smiths Falls (Flickr)

Officers said they found crystal methamphetamine, crack cocaine, cocaine and other illegal drugs, along with firearms and an axe.

Several people have since been charged with possession and intent to distribute, though the charges are unconnected to the disappearances.

‘We just have rumours’

In the absence of information, gruesome unconfirmed rumours have swirled around the town about how the three men may have died.

Kelley Denham, who runs a Facebook group of about 8,000 local residents, told CBC News the closure of the local newspaper earlier this year, paired with Meta’s recent ban on Facebook posts by Canadian news outlets, has contributed to the vacuum of information surrounding the disappearances, which in turn has fuelled rumours and speculation about what happened to the men.

“It’s like people have forgotten how journalism works,” she said. “Now we don’t have news. We just have rumours. Lots and lots of rumours.”

Police have also been tight-lipped about the three cases, according to local residents, and have declined to comment on the rumours running rampant in the remote, small town.

“Police haven’t said anything,” said resident Bill Linton.

This is something that has been a cause for concern for the town’s mayor Shawn Pankow, who has had a lingering sense of worry about the harm the absence of information is causing to the town and the victims’ families after investigators said they had been “receiving an abundance of second-hand information” in the 14 months since the first disappearance.

“When gaps exist people tend to fill them in with their own assumptions, unfortunately,” he said.

Police have since implored anybody with first-hand knowledge concerning what happened to the three men to come forward.

Mr Bertrim’s mother, Linda Young, also made a similar appeal.

“I know that people are hearing things and have information,” she said. “Help bring my family some closure.”

Residents feel ‘unsafe’

Although investigators are far from working out what happened to the three men, they have so far refused to rule out foul play.

But with no arrests made, residents have been left feeling unsafe in their town as speculation grows about the disappearances.

“I’ve lived in this town since I was five. For 42 years, this is the first time I’m not comfortable. I would not leave my house now,” said Amanda Ellis, who knew Mr Thomson and Mr Bertrim.

“I know a lot of people aren’t feeling very safe in this community,” she added. “What’s to stop this when there aren’t arrests, there aren’t repercussions?”