It’s been 51 years since Lise Nastuk last saw her younger sister Diane.
It was Sept. 17, 1966, a Saturday, and the Prevost family was enjoying the final days of summer at Grundy Lake Provincial Park, located approximately 100 kilometres southeast from their home in Blezard Valley, outside of Sudbury, Ont.
Lise and her two siblings frolicked in the water with her mother while her father fished. Frightened of the water, two-year-old Diane played alone in the sand.
The toddler said she wanted to return to the campsite, just 152 metres from the shore, to see her grandparents. Her father told her he would take her once he finished untangling his fishing line.
But when he looked for her moments later, Diana had vanished, according to a description of the day’s events by the Ontario Provincial Police.
After an extensive month-long police search of the park and lake and an ongoing investigation in the years after, the little girl has never been found. To this day, the Prevosts still don’t know what happened to Diane.
Now, decades later, Nastuk is appealing to the public for help finding her long-lost sister, with a heartfelt letter released by the OPP.
‘We haven’t lost hope’
On Thursday, International Missing Children’s Day, the OPP shared Nastuk’s letter to her sister in an effort to gather more information for their investigation into her disappearance.
In the letter, Nastuk tells Diane that not a day goes by when she doesn’t think of her.
“Fifty-one years ago, someone took you away from us and our lives have never been the same since,” she wrote. “Mom asked Dad to bring you back and he said he would untangle the fishing line first. You were so headstrong Diane, you didn't wait, why didn't you wait? Someone was waiting to steal you away from us.”
Nastuk shares how difficult Diane’s disappearance had been for their father who never stopped looking for her.
“For many years, on the anniversary of your disappearance he would go back to Grundy Provincial Park to look for you. He never gave up, even on his dying bed he wasn't ready to go, he had unfinished business, you weren't found,” Nastuk wrote. “His only wish was to have you back in our family.”
Nastuk’s letter ends with a personal message to Diane, just in case she reads it.
“Please know that your real family is still looking for you. You were not given-up for adoption, you were taken from us. We want you to come back home, Diane. We haven't lost hope that you're still waiting for us to find you. Till we meet again, little sister.”
Case not closed
Nastuk’s letter to Diane is part of a campaign called “Letters from Home” by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. The charitable organization has been sharing messages from families who are searching for a missing child during the month of May in honour of Missing Children’s Month in Canada.
In a statement accompanying the release of Nastuk’s letter, the OPP said their investigation has not determined the whereabouts of Diane, who had a mark on her left knee and a scar on her right foot at the time of her disappearance.
“We believe that someone knows something about the disappearance of Diane Prevost. Although decades have passed, her case is not closed,” Insp. Tina Chalk of the Counter Exploitation and Missing Persons Section said. “Even the smallest piece of information could shed light on what happened to Diane, and resolve a 50-year mystery that has haunted this family and the community.”
Police are asking anyone with information regarding Diane Prevost’s disappearance to contact local police or the OPP’s Missing Persons and Unidentified Bodies unit at 1-877-934-6363 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
“Do you know what happened to Diane?” the OPP wrote in the release. “We know that someone knows.”
