André Allard

The last night of André Allard’s life was spent at Brasserie Peters in Montreal. On that Saturday evening, March 15, 1980, the city was emerging from the depths of a Quebec winter. What conversations he had, who he was with, and what plans he made for the following day are all details lost to time. It was the last time anyone has ever reported seeing him alive. By the next morning, the male victim’s life had been violently ended, leaving behind a mystery that has now spanned more than four decades and continues to trouble investigators.

At 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 16, 1980, a grim discovery was made miles away from the city lights of Montreal. In the quiet, snow-covered landscape of Saint-Luc, on an island in the Richelieu River known as Sainte-Thérèse, André Allard’s body was found. He was located at the Pin-Vert Camping ground, a place that would have been largely deserted in the cold of mid-March. His body had been buried in the snow, a deliberate act to conceal a crime. The tranquility of the winter scene was shattered by the presence of violence and death.

The Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force for Quebec, was called to the scene and immediately launched a homicide investigation. An autopsy was conducted, and the results confirmed what the circumstances suggested: André Allard had been murdered. Investigators worked to piece together his final hours, tracing his path from the brasserie in Montreal to the snowy campground in Saint-Luc, a municipality that would later merge into the city of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu. How he got there, who he was with, and why he was killed became the central questions of the case.

Despite the efforts of law enforcement, the investigation into André Allard’s murder eventually stalled. Leads dried up, and without new information or evidence, the case grew cold. For years, there were no public developments. The world moved on, but the file remained open, waiting for a breakthrough. For police, a cold case is never a closed case. It represents a lingering injustice and a family without answers. These files are often revisited as forensic technology evolves and as allegiances shift over time, compelling people to finally come forward with what they know.

Decades after his death, André Allard has not been forgotten. His case is maintained by the Sûreté du Québec’s division of unsolved crimes, a dedicated unit that handles hundreds of unresolved disappearances and homicides across the province. Periodically, investigators and media outlets highlight these cases in the hope of jogging someone's memory or appealing to a person's conscience. The theory is that someone, somewhere, knows what happened to André and has held that secret for a lifetime.

As of May 2026, the investigation into the homicide of André Allard remains an active cold case. Police believe that after more than 40 years, it is possible that someone with crucial information is now in a position to speak without fear. A small, seemingly insignificant detail could be the key to unlocking the case and finally providing answers and a measure of justice for a man whose life was cut short on a cold winter night. The Sûreté du Québec continues to ask for the public’s help. Any information can be communicated confidentially to the Centrale de l’information criminelle at 1-800-659-4264.