Melvin Hillier, 64, left his Torbay home on Sunday, September 23, 2018, saying he was going for a drive and did not return. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt, a blue windbreaker jacket and glasses. Described as a Caucasian male, 5 feet 8 inches and 170 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes, his family reported him missing the same day when he failed to come home.

Investigators found Hillier’s blue Ford F-150 abandoned on the MV Legionnaire, the ferry that runs between Portugal Cove and Bell Island. Surveillance footage from the 1:45 p.m. crossing shows him walking around the lounge area; the final images of him are between about 1:50 p.m. and 1:57 p.m. while the ferry was mid-crossing, and there is no footage of him disembarking when the vessel docked. An extensive search of the waters and coastline turned up no trace.

The circumstances leave key questions unanswered about what happened during that crossing. Anyone who was on the ferry that afternoon or who may have seen Melvin before he left home is asked to come forward with information.