Mario Ritchie

In the late summer of 1985, Mario Ritchie was a young man of 21 with his life centered in Montreal, Quebec. For two years, he had worked as a labourer at the Louis-Hippolyte-Lafontaine Hospital, a steady job for a man just starting out. Though he lived in the city, his roots were in the Lanaudière region, a landscape of forests and lakes about an hour and a half away. He was from the area of Saint-Charles-de-Mandeville, a small community neighboring the town of Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, a place known for its picturesque lake and as a welcoming spot for summer visitors. It was a place Mario knew well, a place of childhood friends and familiar landmarks.

On Sunday, August 25, 1985, Mario was back in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, spending time with people he had known for years. The evening started at a local bar, a casual gathering of friends enjoying the final weeks of summer. Later, the group moved on to the Venise Pizzeria, a popular local eatery. At some point in the night, Mario left the pizzeria. He was last seen walking away by himself, heading into the quiet, dark streets of the small town. It was the last time anyone would report seeing him alive. What happened in the hours that followed remains a mystery that has haunted his family and investigators for decades.

The next day, Monday, August 26, 1985, a grim discovery was made. The body of Mario Ritchie was found in a wooded area within Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon. The peaceful, natural setting stood in stark contrast to the violence of the scene. It was immediately clear to authorities that this was a homicide; his body bore distinct marks of violence, though the specific cause of death has not been publicly released. The discovery sent a shockwave through the tight-knit community, transforming a familiar landscape into a crime scene and leaving a young man’s family with unanswerable questions.

The Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force for Quebec, took charge of the homicide investigation. Detectives from the Centrale de l’information criminelle began the painstaking work of piecing together Mario’s final hours. They interviewed the childhood friends he was with, staff at the bar and pizzeria, and anyone who might have seen something unusual that night. They sought to build a timeline that could lead them to a suspect or a motive. Despite their efforts, the trail went cold. There were no immediate arrests, and as the years passed, Mario’s murder became one of the many unsolved cases in the province's files.

A month after his death, a local newspaper published a notice from grieving families, including a mention of Mario Ritchie's passing. It was a quiet, heartbreaking glimpse into the private pain of a family and community grappling with a violent loss. The brief acknowledgment in print was a testament to the love for a young man whose life was cut short, a stark reminder of the personal tragedy behind the public case file. For his loved ones, the lack of resolution meant the grieving process was suspended, overshadowed by the absence of justice.

As of May 2026, the murder of Mario Ritchie remains an active, unsolved cold case. Decades have not diminished the hope that someone, somewhere, holds the key to understanding what happened that August night. The Sûreté du Québec continues to seek information from the public, believing that a forgotten memory or a pang of conscience could finally provide the missing piece of the puzzle. Investigators urge anyone with any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward. Information can be shared with the Centrale de l’information criminelle at 1-800-659-4264.