Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. Before we get started, I just wanted to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on
harmful acts and crimes against animals and or humankind.
Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the content nature of this podcast.
Listener discretion is strongly advised.
Okay, you ready to record?
I'm ready!
Good deal. Hi everyone, I'm Deb.
And I'm Beth.
And we want to welcome you to episode number 26 of Dying to be Found.
We're so glad that you are taking your time out of your day to be with us.
Beth and I are always trying to find stories that you can relate to and leave the content up to you, our listeners.
So guess what, Beth?
What?
We have a story that one of our listeners sent out. Thanks so much for this story, Katie.
And we hope that we do this justice.
But before that, I wanted to check in with you, Beth, and see what's happening.
Well, I'm doing great enjoying summer activities.
We still have another month before our schools get back together.
I was out camping in my trailer with friends this past weekend.
Oh, so you went camping and I guess, okay,
so let me just ask you because I did try to do a prank on you and to me it didn't work too well
until I saw your reaction.
Did you really think that you were getting a robocall from useless trivia on the texts?
I thought not.
And then when you sent a link to me to really click, I thought, holy cow, maybe this is some spammer.
So I very carefully clicked on that link that you sent me.
And what happened?
Well, nothing really happened wrong.
It's just that if I was leery, I shouldn't have clicked on it, should I?
No, you need to always go with your gut.
Okay, I'm just going to keep trying.
Okay.
You'll never know what to expect.
So yeah, I was telling our listeners that when we first started this podcast,
we were on a different platform and Beth was commonly known to drop just in the middle of conversation.
I always felt that was a great time just to tell little stories about our childhood.
So now I'm going to have to try new angles.
I'm going to be watching.
All right.
So let's go ahead and get to it.
Today we are going to be talking about a missing persons case based out of Hamilton, Ontario, Beth.
Well, it's not too far from me.
It's not too far from where we grew up.
So I thought that would kind of hit home a little bit.
Yes.
And yes, I wanted to say thank you to our loyal listener, Katie, for putting me on to this case,
which is sometimes known as the kissing couple case.
And Katie, we do appreciate you listening and sending in your suggestions.
So let's get going.
Thank you, Katie.
We're always up for new topics for our shows.
So thanks again.
Yeah, good deal.
So today we're going to be talking about Cheryl Shepherd, a 29-year-old woman who went missing on or around New Year's Day in 1998.
Beth, have you noticed there's a lot of cases where things were really happening in the 1990s?
I haven't noticed, but now that you mentioned it, you're certainly right.
I wonder what happened to that era.
Yeah.
And I will tell you too, it's ever since DNA has come out, a lot of this has stopped too.
So that's a good thing.
Well, we're going to talk about Cheryl Shepherd, and she was born on September 29th of 1968 in Hamilton, Ontario.
And growing up, she was kind by nature and liked by everyone.
She loved paintballing and horseback riding and was very down to earth.
Cheryl dropped out of high school in grade 10.
So that would be somewhere around the age of 15, Beth.
Cheryl was married twice and ended up going missing just after her divorce from her second husband was finalized.
And before her disappearance, Cheryl worked for about one year as an exotic dancer,
but disliked this lifestyle so much that she ended up going to work at Tim Hortons instead, talking about Tim Hortons.
Beth, you want to tell everybody what Tim Hortons is?
Well, it's like a Starbucks, but their donuts are really good.
Donut holes are Timbits.
Ah, Timbits.
So I think that would be similar to our Dunkin' Donuts here, maybe.
Yes, exactly.
Yeah.
And guess what?
What?
Grandpa knew Tim Horton back in the day.
He did not.
But I said, get out of here.
And he says, no, he says I knew him in downtown Toronto when he opened up his first coffee shop.
It wasn't a franchise and Tim Horton happened to be a hockey player too.
Oh, that's awesome.
I know that I brought my son up playing hockey based on our heritage.
Yes, hockey in Canada.
Oh, that's so cool.
It's really neat to meet people who are well known, whether they're an entrepreneur or even a movie star.
I've met a few in my life, but that's just really so neat to say that.
Grandpa knew Tim Horton.
I know, not too many people can say that.
Nope.
All right, so we're going to move on.
Just so you know, Cheryl was the one who decorated the donuts in Tim Horton's bath.
I know that we usually take for granted that the donuts are ready to go whenever we order them,
but somebody's got to decorate them.
Yes, yes, exactly.
Cheryl eventually met Michael Lavoie, her unemployed father of three,
soon to be third husband at an amusement park.
Friends and family outwardly voiced a dislike to Cheryl's decision to date Michael
because he was known to have volatile relationships,
and in fact, he was unemployed and financially irresponsible when they met.
Regardless, this relationship moved quickly as Michael lived off of Cheryl
and her mother's good graces for a few months before actually moving into their seventh floor apartment
that Cheryl was sharing with her mother, Odette.
Well, that's one point that Cheryl should have realized that he was a mooch.
Yeah, absolutely.
That would be a big red flag.
Unemployed, financially irresponsible, I'm here to say, people,
if they have an excuse as to why they are financially irresponsible in their 20s,
that's a big red flag, and you just really need to pay attention to that.
Yes.
Well, the couple enjoyed going out to lots of public events.
Yeah, I can understand going out and doing a lot of things.
When I was in my 20s, I did the same thing.
I mean, we went to events every weekend, socialized with a ton of people.
So yeah, we always had a lot going on,
and they liked to go out to those events during their two-year relationship.
So on New Year's Eve of 1997, Michael proposed to Cheryl just after midnight
during a live simulcast event that occurred at the Hamilton Convention Center.
Have you ever been there, Beth?
No.
I've been to different convention centers, and they always have different concerts.
I've been to Dancing with the Stars.
I've been to So You Think You Can Dance.
I've been to lots of different concerts at the convention centers where my area is at,
and it's always really cool to people watch there.
Yeah.
Well, friends who knew Cheryl were taken by surprise
because when Michael proposed that New Year's Eve, she accepted.
Wow.
I know.
Well, I mean, okay, so they've been going out for two years.
All those red flags and her third marriage.
Yeah, you're right.
And I will say this.
I did see the video where he had proposed to her,
and to me, it was nothing special.
He just basically pulled a ring out of his pocket and said,
here, I want to marry you.
All right.
So Cheryl and Michael's relationship seemed outwardly sweet,
but nothing is as it always seems, Beth.
Michael did have violent tendencies,
and they were witnessed by multiple people over time.
Cheryl would tell her friends that Michael was very possessive and had a bad temper.
He was extremely jealous and would show up at Cheryl's job at Tim Horton's Unannounced.
Then stay there, Beth, because what better thing to do while you're unemployed
but to just sit at your fiance's place of work for eight hours at one time?
That's disgusting.
I mean, I would think it is, but while he was there, Beth,
he would make sure that Cheryl did not hold long conversations with other males in the building.
So this actually took place between Cheryl and her coworkers as well as customers.
So he's just hovering around, making everybody feel uncomfortable.
If he felt that Cheryl was talking entirely too long to somebody that he didn't approve of,
he would clear his throat very loudly,
causing the customers and coworkers to feel very uncomfortable.
You'd think that the manager wouldn't want him to hang around.
Yeah.
I think at one point in time, the manager did tell him he needed to leave.
Well, Cheryl was often seen with bruises covering her body.
At one point, a neighbor witnessed Michael picking Cheryl up by her throat
and making threats toward her while they were in an underground parking lot
of the apartment complex they lived in.
You should know that Cheryl was only five foot, four inches tall
and weighed between 104 and 106 pounds.
She's a tiny little thing.
She sure is.
It's sad when people want to stay in abusive relationships,
but I think that right there is get out of dodge.
Gosh, yes.
All right.
To give you a perspective, Beth, my dog Dennis is only five pounds less than what Cheryl weighs.
Wow, that is something else.
Yep.
For those of you who don't know who Dennis is, that's my fur baby.
And you can see a picture of him on our Instagram.
And he's awful cute.
He is a sweetheart.
All right.
So this type of behavior was not just a one-time occurrence.
As friends said, this was very common behavior.
And these friends later reported to police that they had watched Michael
as he screamed at Cheryl saying, if you keep effing around with me,
something's going to happen to you.
Joy, he really does have a temper.
Yeah.
So he's verbally and physically abusive.
And that is just a no-go.
It sure is.
But sometimes people feel like they have to stay.
And I don't know what those reasons are, Beth, but she did tell close friends the next day
that she had planned to call off her engagement with to Michael,
but she was too afraid to do so.
And keep in mind that she disappeared less than one week after Michael proposed.
She had told people that if anything should happen to her,
that they should look at Michael, even saying that she might go missing one day.
It's funny, you know, I've read many books and this is what the victims will say.
If to people, if I go missing, you know where to look, check out my husband.
Yeah.
And so I guess what I'm wondering is what is it that is getting them to stay?
What kind of hold does a person like that have?
And I'm going to call Cheryl a victim.
What kind of hold would a person like that have on these victims
where they feel like they can't go anywhere?
Well, being scared is a very prominent problem for the lady who is trying to get away.
Being scared that she's going to be killed or harmed terribly
just because she wants to stand up for herself.
That's true.
And if he's so much bigger than her too, in all these different cases of stalking,
I mean, you just don't know what's going on through that person's mind.
No.
Well, on January 1st, 1998, Cheryl had called her mother at her family's home in New Brunswick
to wish her a happy new year because Odette had taken a vacation out East
and they talked for a few minutes.
Nothing was out of the ordinary.
Cheryl told Odette that she would be in Toronto on January 4th to pick her up at the Union train station.
And during this conversation, Cheryl did not mention one word to Odette that she had just become engaged to Michael.
That's a little odd.
Wouldn't you be excited about telling your mother that you're engaged?
Yes, for sure.
Well, after arriving at the train station, Odette waited for Cheryl, but she never showed up.
Odette eventually made her way back to Hamilton Bath, which is approximately an hour south of Toronto
for our listeners who are not familiar with that area.
And Michael met her at the door of the apartment where he, Cheryl, and Odette lived,
saying that he had not seen Cheryl in two days.
At no point during this time period did Michael report Cheryl missing.
That's very odd.
And it was during this time that Odette learned that Cheryl and Michael had become engaged,
because remember, Cheryl had not mentioned that on the January 1st phone call.
Cheryl had never mentioned this news before her disappearance,
which led Odette to believe that Cheryl had only said yes to Michael
because of the on-air proposal and public pressure.
I do encourage you all to go look at that video.
I'll put it in the show notes, but you can basically tell there was not a ton of excitement
between either one of them during the proposal.
And friends did, in fact, say, like I had told you, that Cheryl had planned to call off that engagement,
but wanted to do so in a public place because of Michael's temper.
I totally get that.
Yeah, I can see that as well.
Yeah, being in a public place, she may feel he's likely less to hang her by her throat or punch her.
Oh, yeah.
Well, Odette remembers seeing curtains in the apartment nailed to the wall,
which had been hung by a rod before she left for the holiday, Beth.
And the curtain rod was missing from the apartment when she got back from out east.
Very strange.
Shortly after Cheryl's disappearance, Michael moved himself and most of his belongings out of the apartment.
And when friends attempted to find out Cheryl's whereabouts,
Michael would always say that she was either sleeping or at work.
Not very inventive, is he?
No, not really.
He immediately became a prime suspect in Cheryl's disappearance,
although he was never formally charged.
During their duration of the entire investigation,
Michael initially spoke with police for less than 30 minutes
and refused to speak with them any further beyond that.
On multiple occasions, Michael told police that he would be willing to come to the police station
for an interview, but he was always a no-show.
Well, what I find interesting is that partners are always the ones that are looked at very closely,
and 30 minutes just doesn't cut it.
No, I agree.
Especially because there would be so much scrutiny with his stories not really adding up.
He hadn't talked with her in two days, the curtain rods.
I mean, you've got several things that are already suspicious.
You would think that the police would do a little bit more of a thorough investigation.
For sure.
When he did speak with the police during his 30-minute interview bath,
Michael stated that he had dropped Cheryl off behind a strip club in Niagara Falls
at 6.30 p.m. for a job interview.
Now remember, Cheryl had left the exotic dancing industry years earlier
because she did not like that lifestyle.
He doesn't know much about her because that would be a red flag to the police
if he knew that she didn't like that exotic dancing.
Yeah, surely he had to have known that she did that at one point or another,
but to me that story wouldn't line up,
especially if most of her friends that knew Cheryl stated that
she had never planned to return to exotic dancing
and would have more than likely told them if she had ever planned to.
Michael also gave conflicting stories as to who was supposed to pick Cheryl up
in Niagara Falls after her job interview.
And he told the police that her ex-husband was supposed to.
Beth, do you see anything wrong with this picture?
Oh yeah, you mentioned that Michael was very jealous.
So why would he allow an ex-husband to pick Cheryl up with his direct supervision?
Think back to working in Tim Hortons where he sat there for eight hours watching her.
Bingo! If Michael was so possessive of Cheryl,
why would he hang out at her job all day to monitor her interactions with other men?
Exactly.
Well, I find it difficult to believe that he would even allow someone that Cheryl had an intimate relationship with
to drive her home for an hour's commute because there were ex-husbands in the picture.
And if he wouldn't even allow Cheryl to speak with somebody at Tim Hortons for more than a minute or two,
then do you think he's really going to let her be in the car with an ex-husband for over an hour?
No way.
Plus Deb, do you ever think that he would ever leave Cheryl alone during an interview
where the majority of Cheryl's customers are going to be male?
Oh, absolutely. That's a very good point.
Well, once Cheryl's ex-husband heard that he was named as a possible participant in Cheryl's disappearance,
he quickly went to the police to deny involvement and even offered to take a polygraph.
Wow.
Michael had told police that a friend was supposed to pick Cheryl up,
but didn't give any other names, so he really doesn't even have a story to go by.
No, which should make the police look at him even more.
Yeah, you would think. Especially because Michael was the last person to see her alive
because the owner of the club where he had stated that he had taken Cheryl to,
the owner said that he had never seen Cheryl for a potential interview,
nor had she ever been hired to work at this club.
What a diggling.
Yeah, I think I could probably come up with a stronger word than that,
but you know, we're trying to be professional here.
Well, you should also know that Michael also refused to take a polygraph test,
although Cheryl's ex-husband said that he would.
Now that's a red flag if I've ever heard one.
And during their interview, Cheryl's purse, wallet, ID card,
glasses, and contacts were all found intact in her apartment.
Do you ever know of a female that's going to leave to go anywhere without her purse?
No way, especially me. How about you?
Oh, I change purses all the time and it drives me crazy because I'll always end up leaving
something in the other purse that I really need for whatever outing I just went on.
Exactly.
Yeah, so Odette confirmed that Cheryl would never leave home without any of these items.
Well, Michael also told police during one interview that he had broken
his ex-girlfriend's cheekbones during an argument and would often have fantasies
about killing her. Why would you come out and straightforward say that in an interview?
It goes to show you that his faculties aren't with him. He must have a very low IQ.
Oh yeah, that's an interesting take on that. Sure.
And during that incident where he had broken his ex-girlfriend's cheekbones, Beth,
Michael went to a local gas station and told an attendant that he had killed her.
So when police were called, she was found very much alive and Michael was only charged with
public misconduct. That's bizarre. That's just bizarre behavior.
It is. Maybe it's a corrupt police force back in the day.
Possibly, but as far as public misconduct, I mean, how about assault and attempt to do bodily harm?
He broke the girl's cheekbones.
That's disgusting. And what's more disgusting is the fact that he's getting away with this.
Yeah. And he went on to refuse participation in any search party activities or appear at
any public press conferences to plea for Cheryl's safe return. I mean, that in itself, Beth,
you and I have done a couple podcast episodes where the family is begging for somebody to come
forward and bring their loved one home safely, you know?
Yeah. You took the words right out of my mouth.
And police found stains in the apartment hallways, which could not be ruled as Cheryl's blood,
but it could not be ruled out. So that might be from, I'm thinking from the curtain rod,
if the curtain rod's missing. Acquaintances of the couple also found Michael's behavior to turn
a little bit odd, Beth, after Cheryl's disappearance. Well, how so?
He began dating another woman who happened to be an ex-girlfriend of his own stepbrother
shortly after Cheryl disappeared. And this woman later stated that she began dating Michael
three months before Cheryl's disappearance. She also mentioned that Michael was extremely paranoid
and told her multiple times that he thought his car was being bugged. Okay. So he's definitely
got some psychological issues that he probably needs to go talk with somebody about.
Yeah. There you go. If you have mental health problems, folks, please go seek help.
Absolutely. Well, this girl that he was dating noticed that Michael had a bite mark on his left
arm and scratches on his back after Cheryl disappeared. A maintenance worker at the
apartment complex where the couple had lived at the time reported that he had seen Michael struggling
to dispose of two large garbage bags during this week also where Cheryl had disappeared.
I hate to guess what's in those bags. Yeah. The same neighbor who had witnessed
Michael holding Cheryl up by her throat in that underground parking garage, Beth.
Well, he had also witnessed Michael in the same parking garage with several garbage bags,
which also seems suspicious to him. Police did make a search of the complex disposal units,
but nothing came up linking this to Cheryl's disappearance. Just one day later on January 5th,
this is one day after Cheryl had disappeared, Michael mailed his mother a suicide note.
On that day, he was found in Cheryl's car with the engine running in a closed storage unit.
Guess who found him? Was it his new girlfriend?
Nope. It was the police. They actually came around looking for him because of one of those times
where Michael had said that he was going to come to a scheduled interview at the police station
and he didn't show up. So the police came looking for him.
Well, I'm glad they found him. Yeah. But he was found in time and taken
to the hospital for treatment. And during this hospital stay, Michael continued to refuse to
talk to police and contacted his lawyer. That's a very odd behavior, already seeking a lawyer.
If he's not guilty, then why would he need to seek a lawyer?
Mm hmm. Well, in all the investigation of Cheryl's disappearance lasted only about 10 days.
Police did as much as they could, but could not provide enough evidence to charge Michael Lavoie
with any crimes. Understood. So she's gone, but the curtains from the apartment are missing as well.
If they can't recover any of this as evidence, Beth, I can kind of understand that they're at
a little bit of a standstill here. Right. So I agree.
Now, as of today, Cheryl Shepard's disappearance remains an open case and holds a $50,000 reward
for information on her whereabouts. Remember now, she went missing on or around New Year's Day
of 1998. Today, she would be 52 years old. When she was last seen, Cheryl was blonde and again,
weighing somewhere around 106 pounds. She has blue eyes and a heart tattoo on her left ankle.
Now, Beth, I found a Facebook page called Help Find Cheryl Shepard, which was set up by Cheryl's
cousin in protest of a book that she and her family did not want published. A petition was
posted on change.org, which enlisted 9311 signatures to help find Cheryl. But this site has
since been closed. And to this day, Cheryl's mother, Odette, has never stopped looking for
her daughter. She's worked tirelessly with reporters, other podcasts, and local police
to try to bring Cheryl home. Every New Year's Day, Odette lights a candle and lets it burn
all day in memory of her daughter, with the hopes that she will find answers to Cheryl's disappearance.
Poor mom. That would be very heartbreaking not to know where she is. And at least if
she could find remains, she would find peace. Oh, yes. Well, I tried to look up some information
on Michael Lavoie today, but I didn't really have much luck with his whereabouts because I can imagine
with the amount of press that was probably linked to this case, he could have changed his name
to avoid people harassing him. And in the whole scheme of things, I guess it really doesn't matter,
but I just really, really do hope that Odette can find closure one day. Yes. So to our listeners,
if you have any information on Cheryl's whereabouts, you should contact the Hamilton Police
at 905-546-3843. And I found a photo of the box that contains evidence from Cheryl's disappearance.
So if you are able to come up with information and make that contact to the Hamilton Police,
you can reference case number 98-501-950-0 with an ID number of 98-0046. Well, thank you, Debbie,
for bringing that to our readers' attention. Hopefully there's a lot of people listening in
around the Hamilton area and be on the lookout. Yes, absolutely. And I'll thank you, Beth,
for never calling me that name again. What name? What did you call me before we started this podcast?
Debbie. Yeah, don't do that. Did I use it? Did I do that? You did. I've been so trying so hard not
to. Even at home when I'm talking about you, I try to say Deb. It's okay. It is okay. Only those
people that know me prior to 1988 is the list of people who can call me that name. But yeah,
Deb is much, much better. Much more mature. It is. So you all, our listeners, don't call me Debbie.
I will give you the stink eye on that. So after all that, do you have a teachable moment for us?
I do have a teachable moment, Beth. This one goes out to basically the dirtbags out there,
because even you can learn something in this life. I don't know if you can actually listen
to podcasts behind bars. Probably so because there are so many different things that you have access
to these days. But listen up, regardless of why you find yourself in the situation that got you
where you are today, or why you felt that violence was the way to go, there is no reason to keep
information from family members who are still actively looking for their loved ones. In this
instance, Beth, I think that you and I can both agree that Michael is presumed innocent until he
can be found guilty because that's how the justice system works. Yes, I totally agree on that. We do
have to presume him innocent. Yes, but whether it's this case or a case of another missing person,
I implore you or anybody that you know to dig deep and find that compassion that you surely had
at some point earlier in your life, and please provide people with closure. Think about your
own families. Do you think that you would want to see them go through what Odette has been going
through for all these years? I've seen so many cases, Beth, regardless of their actions,
criminals still hold close bonds with their own family members. So all I'm asking you to do is to
move past your actions and exercise a little bit of humility. And you can't change your own
circumstances, but you can help bring closure and bring missing persons home. So that's really all
I've got today, Beth. That was a very good teachable moment. Listen up folks. And that's a wrap.
That is a wrap. So thank you, Katie, for sending me this story. And thank you all for listening.
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