Sheryl Marie Sheppard was 29 when she vanished from Hamilton, Ontario, in early January 1998. The last confirmed public moment was a televised New Year’s Eve proposal from her boyfriend, Michael Lavoie, which she accepted. Two days later, around January 2, she disappeared; her mother, Odette Fisher, reported her missing on January 5 after Sheryl failed to meet her at the airport on January 4.

Lavoie told police he had driven Sheryl to Niagara Falls for a job as an exotic dancer, but investigators found no record she arrived at the hotel he named and the manager said no such hire occurred. Police who entered the couple’s Queenston Road apartment found Sheryl’s wallet and ID left behind, a broken picture frame and missing bed sheets; friends and family reported the relationship had been volatile and that Sheryl often had visible bruises. Days after the disappearance Lavoie was found in a storage locker in an apparent attempt to take his own life.

Hamilton Police consider Sheryl a victim of foul play and have publicly identified Lavoie as a person of interest, though no charges have been laid; a $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest. If anyone knew Sheryl, her movements in late 1997 and early 1998, or has information about what happened after January 2, please come forward.