MONTREAL - It was 27 years ago, but his heartbroken family has never recovered.
Sebastien Metivier was only eight years old when he vanished from a schoolyard on the corner of Desjardins and Adam Sts. in Montreal's east end in 1984.
On Tuesday, members of his family and friends were joined by parents of other missing children to remember the boy, but also renew their efforts to solve the case.
"When he disappeared, so did I," said Sebastien's sister, Melanie Sirois. "You have a brother one day and the next day you don't."
The police searched for Sebastien 27 years ago in the St. Lawrence River. They didn't find Sebastian, but only the body of the friend who was with him at the time, Wiltin Loubin. His throat had been slit.
The ordeal has been agonizing for Sebastien's mother, said his aunt Monique Sirois.
"For my sister, she lost a child. It was her boy," she said. "It's like somebody took a part of her away from her."
While 12-year-old classmates mourned Loubin's death, the trail for young Sebastien went cold.
"If police put more resources into finding missing children, we would have better results," said Sebastien's mother, Christiane Sirois, who is seeking to have the case started from scratch.
Pina Arcamone, spokesperson for the Missing Children's Network, said it should be re-investigated.
"The police obviously did not have the resources we do have today. The case was investigated the way you would investigate an adult case," she said.
Others who are also searching for missing children of their own say family members have to stay on top of their cases with police.
"I'm going to tell you, we have to push all the time to make something happen," said Michel Surprenant, whose daughter Julie went missing in 1999 after she got off a bus near her home in Terrebonne.
The hope is that in retelling Sebastien's story, it will jog someone's memory, perhaps someone will remember something they saw or heard the night Sebastien went missing.
Anyone will information is urged to call Info-Crime at 514-393-1133.
