Police search for leads in Nicole Morin cold case

Extended: Nicole Morin abduction re-enactment This Toronto Police re-enactment video shows the disappearance of Nicole Morin from her Etobicoke apartment building back in 1985.

Dozens of police officers combed a rural area near Barrie, Ont. Wednesday in hopes of solving the mystery of what happened to Nicole Morin, a young girl who disappeared from west-end Toronto 29 years ago.

Approximately 50 officers aided by two cadaver dogs searched ditches along Old Second Road South, off Horseshoe Valley Road, in Springwater Township.

The area has previously been searched by provincial police following a call from a tipster two days after eight-year-old Morin disappeared in July 1985. But officers came up empty handed. A ground search in that area was resumed Wednesday morning following a tip from the same person. Police say that person called after the July release of a re-enactment of Morin’s disappearance.

"If continues to bother the individual – they had the knowledge of what they thought they knew," Insp. Gerry Cashman told The Canadian Press on Wednesday.

"We’re looking for any evidence whatsoever in relation to Nicole being here, if she was here at all after she went missing in July of 1985."

Cashman said while it's unlikely police will find anything, it’s important they do their due diligence.

"We don’t know. We want to close all the loops. We’re taking that investigative risk and coming up here…to make sure we don’t leave something unturned."

In 1985, Morin left her penthouse apartment at 627 The West Mall in Etobicoke, and headed to the ground floor to meet a friend to go swimming.

Police are unsure if she ever made it to the building's lobby, but she was never seen again.

She was wearing a coral bathing suit, and was described as 4-foot-2 with brown hair and brown eyes. Her ears were pierced and she had a small birthmark on the upper right side of her forehead. She weighed approximately 60 pounds.

On the 29th anniversary of Morin's disappearance, police released new photos and a re-enactment video, hoping to trigger the memories of anyone who saw her that day.

At the time, Det. Sgt. Madelaine Tretter said police have received several leads since 1985, including at least one earlier this year, and some have led police to believe Morin may still be alive.

"We've never lost hope that we can find Nicole," she said.

If Morin is still alive, she's now 37-years-old.

Anyone with details is asked to call Toronto police at 416-808-2200, or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

With files from The Canadian Press