'No more secrets,' volunteer group urges in disappearances of two London women

Members of a volunteer group aimed at cracking missing person cases turned their attention to Old East Village on Sunday with the hope of influencing residents to send in tips in the unsolved disappearances of two local women.

A day earlier, volunteers from 'Please Bring Me Home' scoured the banks of the Thames River near Cavendish Park for clues that could bring closure to the families of Kathryn Bordato and Shelley Desrochers.

Armed with posters, the group of six set off from King and Ontario streets to canvass several blocks of the neighbourhood where Desrochers was last seen, and where a man they say had ties to both women, and who they believe had information about the disappearances, had lived before his death.

"No more secrets! Don't keep quiet anymore!" one poster pleads.

"[This area is] where the girls may have spent a lot of time," said Karen Stewart, a volunteer with the charity. "We're going to hand out posters, bring in awareness, tips. There's always somebody out there who knows something."

Bordato, a 44-year-old mother of two, was last seen near Cavendish Park sometime between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 16, 2009, police say. She was reported missing on Feb. 10, 2010.

Desrochers, a 42-year-old mother and grandmother, was last seen near Lorne Avenue and English Street in Old East Village on Jan. 2, 2016, and was reported missing on Jan. 21, 2016.

Police have said both cases remain open, and that there have been no confirmed sightings of the women, or evidence to indicate either is alive. Their bodies have not been located.

Founded in 2018, the Owen Sound-based charity has grown considerably, and now has members across the country looking into various missing person files.

The group has followed the Desrochers case for years, and in 2022, used cadaver dogs to examine spots linked to someone of interest, or somewhere she frequented. 

Stewart said three kilometres of the river's banks were examined Saturday, west of Wharncliffe Road. Both women were known to hang out there, the group says.

"We didn't find what we were looking for, at least we don't think so. We found a lot of clothing, a lot of blankets. We came across some tent encampments," Stewart said. 

Roberta Kilbourn met a teenage Desrochers, and one of her sisters, Laura, through her work with Children's Aid Society. She last saw Desrochers in 2013.

Desrochers was very outgoing, and had an addictive laugh, she said.

"Laura worked very hard to try to guide her in the right direction, but there's only so much guidance you can give."

Kilbourn, the group's investigate lead, said both cases have come to gravitate around one man — Ronald Kevin Fangrad, 57, who died in August 2020.

The group believes he had information, and "may have made comments over the years," about the disappearances.

Bordato's daughter and son identify Fangrad as their mother's boyfriend in an episode of the Paramount Plus documentary, Never Seen Again. 

In the episode, London police Det. Insp. Alex Krygsman reveals investigators spoke with "Bordato's boyfriend" who said he took her to see a friend, and dropped her off in Cavendish Park.

Later, Krygsman notes Desrocher's Facebook was logged into from the home of "an associate of hers, who also had been the boyfriend of Kathryn Bordato."

Krygsman doesn't name Fangrad, and police have not publicly named him in either case. He was never criminally charged in either disappearance.

Fangrad, who lived in Old East Village, was arrested March 2019 for assault and sexual assault in decades-old allegations. The charges were withdrawn that July, according to the London Free Press.

A police-issued warning on Mar. 14, 2019 said he was high risk for violence toward women, especially sex workers and intimate partners.

Investigators say Desrochers followed a "high-risk lifestyle" and battled substance abuse. Bordato's daughter describes her mother as facing similar struggles.

Asked if the group had heard from his family, Kilbourn said no. 

"If there's anything you know as a family unit... clear him so we can look someplace else."

In November 2021, police revealed the death of someone they believed had knowledge of the disappearances, and that they provided limited cooperation, may have withheld information, and were "monitored closely to ensure public safety."

Police couldn't name the person, citing privacy laws.