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'Someone knows something': A look at 9 cold cases in Kingston, Ont.

Kingston, Ont. police have launched a new website for cold cases. These nine people's deaths or disappearances, dating back to 1970, have yet to be solved. Kingston, Ont. police have launched a new website for cold cases. These nine people's deaths or disappearances, dating back to 1970, have yet to be solved.
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Police in Kingston, Ont. are still investigating nearly a dozen major cold cases of suspected murders and disappearances.

In an effort to find tips, the police service has launched a new cold cases webpage.

"Cold case homicides or incidents where someone has disappeared under suspicious circumstances fall under the mandate of the Kingston Police Major Crime Unit," Kingston police said in a news release Tuesday. "Family, friends, citizens and those responsible for these crimes should know that these cases are always being actively investigated."

Nine cases were added to the Kingston Police website in the hope that someone comes forward with information.

"The adage that 'someone knows something' holds true and investigators are always eager to receive information about these cases, which remain a top priority of the Major Crime Unit," police said.

Here are the nine victims whose deaths or disappearances the Kingston police are still trying to solve:

Valerie Anastacia Drew

Valerie Anastacia Drew. (Kingston Police Service)

Valerie Drew was last seen on the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 25, 1970. She was in the company of two males, walking through Marker’s Acres (now the area of Compton Street) toward Highway 401.

She was reported missing that evening when it was noticed that she was no longer with the two males. Her body was discovered two days later in what was then a wooded area north of Weller Avenue. She was 13 years old.

Drew's death remains Kingston's longest unsolved homicide and she is the youngest victim among Kingston's cold cases.

Judith Ann Zicari 

Judith Ann Zicari a.k.a. Judith Bailey. (Kingston Police Service)

Judith Zicari (also known as Judith Bailey) was reported unlawfully at large on April 8, 1972, at the age of 30, when she failed to return to the Prison for Women while on day parole.

Based on information received through the years, police consider her disappearance to be a homicide.

Police received a tip in 1991 that led to the excavation of the basement of an Alfred Street residence, but no body or evidence of a murder was discovered at that time.

Christine Ann Ziomkiewich 

Christine Ann Ziomkiewich. (Kingston Police Service)

Christine Ziomkiewich disappeared without a trace on June 23, 1978. She was 27 at the time, working at Queen's University, and lived alone in a basement apartment on Park Street.

After being reported missing, police searched her home, where they found her vehicle, clothing, and even freshly bought groceries and cash. There was no sign of any struggle in the apartment.

She still hasn't been found.

Eleanor McGeachie 

Eleanor McGeachie. (Kingston Police Service)

Eleanor McGeachie's body was found by a family member at her Victoria Street home on Aug. 26, 1978. She was widowed and was living alone at the time. She was 63.

Police believed early on that she had been murdered.

Investigators canvassed her neighbourhood and investigated several people but, to this day, no one has been arrested or charged in connection with her death.

Thomas M. Gencarelli

Thomas M. Gencarelli (Kingston Police Service)

Thomas Gencarelli was last seen the morning of Nov. 12, 1982, leaving his apartment on Bayswater Place. He never returned. He was 24.

Police believe foul play is involved in his disappearance.

In 1998, Kingston Police detectives arrested Mitchiel Gordon McArthur (also known as Michael Gordon Hollinger) who was charged with first-degree murder in Gencarelli's death; however, a key witness in the Crown's prosecution died some time after a preliminary inquiry and the charges were withdrawn.

Gencarelli body has never been found.

Jeffrey Thomas Leveque

Jeffrey Thomas Leveque. (Kingston Police Service)

Jeffrey Leveque and another man were in a basement apartment at 13 Shaw St. on May 2, 1989 when an explosion occurred. Both men were killed instantly and three other people were hurt in the blast.

Police believe that the explosion was intentional, and that Leveque and the other man, who is not named, had been murdered. Leveque was 21.

The motive for the explosion has never been determined and the case remains unsolved.

Gordon Andrew Cameron 

Gordon Andrew Cameron. (Kingston Police Service)

Gordon Cameron was last seen Feb. 26, 1993 and was reported missing by his family a month later.

His disappearance is considered a homicide. 

He owned an automotive repair shop in Kingston's west end when he disappeared, which was found to have been the place where Kevin John MacPherson, an Outlaws Motorcycle Club associate, was shot and killed. Cameron was, at the time of his disappearance, an associate of the local Outlaws Motorcycle Club chapter as well, which investigators believe to be relevant. He was 30 when he was last seen.

His body has never been found and no one has ever been charged in connection with his disappearance.

Police searched a pond on North Shore Road in 2015, but did not find any solid clues.

Viva Bernice Mack

Viva Bernice Mack. (Kingston Police Service)

Viva Mack's family last saw her on Nov. 1, 1993. Her body was found two days later in her ground floor apartment in a high-rise near the intersection of Princess Street and The Parkway.

Police believe she was murdered but, to date, no one has ever been charged in her death.

Marion A. Joyce 

Marion A. Joyce. (Kingston Police Service)

A family member who lived with Marion Joyce found her dead in the home they shared on Meadowcrest Road on March 30, 2002.

Police believe she was murdered, but have yet to find a culprit. She was 74 years old.

Her death remains an active investigation as the oldest and most recent victim of an unsolved homicide on file with the Kingston Police.

Anyone who might have information that could lead to solving these cold cases is encouraged to contact the Kingston Police Major Crime Unit at 613-549-4660 or by email at crimetips@kingstonpolice.ca.

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