ROSEMARIE HELGA DOEDERLEIN disappeared at age 14 and family members believe she is in South Etobicoke. She would be 81 now.
You too can be an online sleuth.
A search is underway in South Etobicoke for a 14-year-old girl who disappeared in Montreal more than 60 years ago after moving here with her family from Germany.
Rosemarie Helga Doederlein would be 81 today and is believed to be in the South Etobicoke area, according to her sister Vera, and daughter Christie Hastie, in an online posting.
The family has set up a Facebook page with thousands of followers trying to find Rosemarie.
It has been nearly 68 years since Vera last saw Rosemarie or heard her voice.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her,” Vera says.
ROSEMARIE’s parents died heartbroken trying to find her.
Rosemarie was a teen when her mother sent her to a bakery a few blocks from their Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, apartment in Montreal one afternoon in late 1954. The non-English speaking sisters had arrived several weeks earlier from their native Germany.
Vera recalls her parents Hilda and Oskar died heartbroken.
“She was never found. No trace. Nothing. They looked for the rest of their lives,” she says.
“A lead came in saying they believe my sister Rosemarie may have ended up in the Etobicoke area in 1954 and lived there,” Vera said in a post.
“Does anyone recognize her or have heard any facts related to her middle name, hometown, date of birth or maiden name,” she asked online.
One follower responded “that age enhanced photo reminds me of a woman who lived in Mimico Estates. She was always out and about, retired and collected empties.”
SOME BELIEVE they have seen missing Rosemarie at Mimico Estates apartments.
“I spoke to her often and she had a European accent,” the woman wrote. “I suddenly stopped seeing her.”
The family can’t stop wondering if Rosemarie was sold for prostitution or child trafficking, domestic work or was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
“She was a gorgeous tall bright blue eyed girl who didn’t speak any English or French yet,” Vera said. “She was kind and innocent and very helpful.”
The family still has hope and is working with the Jane Doe Project, which helps reunify families.
For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/missing1954rosemarie/