On February 25, 1959, two-year-old Richard Culford, known as Ricky, disappeared from a beach on Ward’s Island in Toronto while with his mother. He was last seen near the water’s edge playing with a stick; when his mother turned to call him he was gone. At the time he was 36 inches tall, weighed 37 pounds, had blonde straight hair and blue eyes, and was dressed in a red snowsuit, brown gabardine helmet with a peak, brown wool mittens and black rubber boots. He had a scar on his left thigh from a blood transfusion.

Immediate searches by the mother and then the Toronto Police Service covered the island and the lake, but no trace was found. The investigation slowed over time yet remained officially open and Richard is still listed as a missing person. Few concrete leads have emerged in the decades since, leaving major unanswered questions about what happened that day.

Did anyone visit Ward’s Island on February 25, 1959 who might remember seeing a small boy in a red snowsuit?