Volunteers search for clues in 35-year missing person’s case

You might say it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, as family, friends, and complete strangers scoured ditches and bushes for clues in the mysterious disappearance of Lois Hanna, who was last seen 35 years ago.

“I mean, we’ve accepted that she’s not going to come bouncing in through the door. I mean, we realized that years ago,” said one of Lois’ four brother, Jim Hanna, who was a part of Monday’s search.

The 25-year-old Hanna has been missing since July 4, 1988. She was last seen leaving a homecoming dance in Lucknow, Ont.

Foul play is strongly suspected in her disappearance.

Tips about hearing a woman screaming for help, and a woman running in a nightgown between Lucknow and the Hanna home farm near Holyrood, Ont. that night have led a team of 40 volunteers to reignite the search for answers.

A photo of Lois Hanna from June 1988. She has been reported missing since July 1988. (Source: Please Bring Me Home)

“The fact that these three tips have come in and they’re located near these ditches. It’s important these areas get searched, and believe it or not, in the past 35 years, they haven’t been,” said Matthew Nopper, co-founder of Please Bring Me Home, who organized Monday’s search.

Please Bring Me Home, a volunteer missing person’s investigation unit, has been following Lois Hanna’s case since 2017, conducting their last search for clues in her disappearance in 2019.

“I think if we could find out what happened to her, that would bring us some peace. We could put her with her mom and dad, and then the family could close that chapter,” said Jim.

Everyone at Monday’s search recognized that after 35 years, the chances of finding Lois, or physical clues in her mysterious disappearance, are very low. But, they’re trying to discount areas and theories to zone in on the answers that her family so desperately want.

Volunteers with Please Bring Me Home conducted a ground search for Lois Hanna near Holyrood, Ont. on May 1, 2023. (Scott Miller, CTV News London)

“Until we find those answers, it’s an open wound, and it’s going to stay open as long as we’re alive,” said Jim.

“It’s been 35 years, but people still remember,” said Nopper.

To learn more about Please Bring Me Home’s work on the Lois Hanna case, and countless others, you can visit their website. Nopper said they’re accepting any tips on Hanna’s case on their website as well.