John Leroy Crofts was 70 when he was last seen on December 25, 1997, in the Huntsville area of Muskoka, Ontario. He had lived a transient life before his disappearance, often staying in men’s shelters and rooming houses in downtown Toronto, and had struggled with mental illness. His sister, Barb Anderson, last saw him when she helped him board a bus to Toronto from Peterborough in March 1997; she did not learn he was missing until 2001 when the Ontario Provincial Police contacted her.

John is one of four seniors who vanished from properties in the Muskoka region between 1997 and 1998 that were owned or operated by the Laan family; the others named are Joan Lawrence, 77, Ralph Grant, 69, and John Semple, 89. The Ontario Provincial Police have stated they are investigating these four disappearances as homicides, though no bodies have been recovered and investigators say members of the Laan family have not been cooperative.

Are there readers who knew John, the other missing seniors, or who have information about the properties near Huntsville that could help the investigation?