Judi Riley hopes she is wrong, but possible links between her brother Jon and accused serial killer Bruce McArthur have her fearing the worst.
“It wasn't my immediate reaction that Jon was connected, but we just started to connect the dots,” Riley said Saturday. “It is very hard to comprehend how someone like my brother, who has so much light in him, to be surrounded by so much grief.”
In fact, the family holds out hope Jon Riley is alive.
The Meaford man was 47 years old when he went missing in the spring of 2013. He had said he would be in Toronto “for a couple of days,” but was reported missing some time later after he hadn't been heard from.
Riley said her brother worked in landscaping, and she fears he may have come into contact with McArthur, who was himself a landscaper.
“The connection that is there is the terrifying connection of the landscaping, which is kind of his go-to. He would do odd jobs like painting and landscaping,” said Riley. “He really enjoys landscaping and was trying to get in shape so that is the perfect opportunity to combine that.”
Riley said her brother wasn't gay, as were many of the men who are alleged to be McArthur's victims, but she believes he would be in the area where many of the missing were from – the neighbourhood at Church and Wellesley known as The Village.
“The bus comes in and he is right downtown so that is where he would stay, that is where the cheap prices are,” said Riley. “He wasn't a drinker, he wouldn't have gone to bars, but I believe he went down there to meet someone specifically for a job.”