CANADA Canada - Mary Hammond, Brantford ON, 8 Sept 1983

[dotr]

Does anyone have any photos or areal shots/artists' rendition of the area in 1983? The area has changed quite a bit in the past 36 years. Also, I couldn't find any news articles to say where exactly she lived on Elgin Street. Trying to get a good visual of the typical walk she would make at that time. Also, very interested in the crime statistics for Brantford in 1983. There was some economic downturn (with plant closures and people losing employment) leading up to 1983, which was a contributing factor in the crime rate. I read somewhere (and sorry I can't recall the articles) that the Crime Rate at the time was at it's highest..but I can't find any breakdown (i.e. primarily theft/burglary/drug related offences).

Welcome to Ws. thanks for bumping Mary's case!
Pics and much more info about the area at link..
Brantford in the 1980's - Part 5 rbbm.
Brantford in the 1980’s – Part 5
The 1980’s witnessed labour battles resulting in long and costly strikes for both the workers and the companies. A number of long time Brantford companies closed during this decade. Highway 403 was finally opened to Highway 401 in Woodstock but it would be another nine years before the eastern portion to Hamilton was completed. Police cars go from blue to yellow to white and the police department hires its first female constables.

Strikes

Workers at Worthington Canada went on strike for five months in 1980. This strike made history as the first test case of a new provincial labour law requiring employees to vote on a final offer if requested by the company.

Employees at Trailmobile were on strike for eight months in 1983. It was a nasty strike marked by acts of vandalism. The strike ended when the company threatened to close down the plant if a settlement could not be reached.

In 1979, employment at Hussman Refrigeration Company had reached 600 workers, but by 1983 it was down to 350 because of the economic downturn. During contract talks in 1984, the company asked for a two-dollar an hour wage reduction for new workers and the elimination of the cost of living bonus. These were hard won benefits that the union refused to surrender. The strikers remained on the picket line for eight months. After the company threatened to close the plant if no agreement was reached by 4-September-1984, the two sides settled with neither side gaining what they originally asked for."

"As the economy deteriorated, crime increased, including violent and drug-related offences. The crime rate in 1983 was the highest in the province."

 

[dotr]

Wondering if this case has anything at all to do with this one? speculation, imo.
Innocence project searches for answers in historic Brantford murder | The Star
Jan 12 2016
"The night, according to Bradley Albon, began at a motel in Brantford, where Albon, 17, and an older man were drinking vodka, taking LSD and watching *advertiser censored*.

This was not unusual for them. Nor was the banter that began between them about what they knew about the death of 15-year-old Cindy McCauley more than two years before, on Dec. 1, 1983."

 

[dotr]

Mary Hammond

"At the time of her disappearance Mary Hammond was 25 years old, 5'10", 140 lbs., with long straight reddish-brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion.

She was last seen wearing a blue, mauve and red lumber jacket, blue jeans, white Adidas running shoes with a silver stripe and a yellow T-shirt.

Investigators received information that a pickup truck left the rear of the bakery around the time Mary disappeared. The truck was seen parked at the back of the bakery parking lot and later driving through the rear lot. It is described as an older brown pick-up possibly a Ford, with painted bumpers and round headlights. Despite appealing to the public and an exhaustive police investigation, no truck matching that description has ever been found.

Anyone with information about Mary Hammond is to contact the Brantford Police Service at 519-756-7050 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

Incident #83-24791"

 

[musicaljoke]

Circumstances of Disappearance
Hammond left her home for work at approximately 3:30 on September 8, 1983 in Brantford, Ontario Canada. She walked from her family's Elgin Street residence to the former Buns Master Bakery on Morton Avenue, where she was employed. Hammond took Park Road North (now called the Wayne Gretzky Parkway) and passed the Massey-Ferguson Factory. She then cut across a field toward the back of the Buns Master Bakery building.

One of Hammond's coworkers phoned her husband at approximately 4:00, inquiring as to why she had not reported to work. The police were summoned and Hammond's footprints were followed to the back of the bakery, then vanished. Authorities discovered items from her lunch at the scene, including a cup, dish, and a partially eaten apple. One of Hammond's socks was recovered and a small amount of blood was seen on the ground.

A brown, 1974 - 1978 pickup truck, possibly a Ford, was seen near the back of the bakery at the time of Hammond's disappearance. The vehicle was last seen driving through the company's rear parking lot. It is described as an older-model brown truck which was possibly a Ford. The vehicle's bumpers were painted and it had round headlights. The truck has never been located".

Gosh, you'd think someone would know who owned the brown truck with painted bumpers! If it was never seen anywhere else other than the back of Buns Master, then I would be suspicious of the description.

Does it seem possible to you that she dropped her lunch and the one of her co-workers found it and ate it? Surely a person wouldn't help them self unless they knew that the owner wasn't coming back. Did the lunch thief see something, and then fearful of being found out, did he or she clam up?

I just checked the Brantford police page, and Mary left her home to walk to the Buns Master at 3:30 a.m. At 4:00 a.m. her co-worker called to say she hadn't shown up for work. She had the early morning shift. It wasn't clear in the earlier posts here that she was walking in the dark.


Mary Hammond

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

I spoke with a resident of Brantford last week who lived in the city in 1983. He indicated that at the time, even though the crime rate was the highest in the province and the downtown started to go down hill, they still felt relatively safe. This was even despite having a break-in to their home that year.

yes, she was walking in the dark, which was apparently a common thing for her to do. I believe 4 am was her regular shift. Currently this area is well lit as the street is a major street that has been developed, but I wonder how much lighting there was at the time. The massey ferguson building they mentioned is still there, the bakery doesn't exist but the building does. Also, there are train tracks behind the building, leading up to the building. Looks like those would have been there at the time, but no mention. So I am curious where exactly this field was (before or after the tracks). if it stops raining, I will travel to location again to take photos. The bakery building was on the same side of the main road she travelled as the street where she lived.

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

Gosh, you'd think someone would know who owned the brown truck with painted bumpers! If it was never seen anywhere else other than the back of Buns Master, then I would be suspicious of the description.

Does it seem possible to you that she dropped her lunch and the one of her co-workers found it and ate it? Surely a person wouldn't help them self unless they knew that the owner wasn't coming back. Did the lunch thief see something, and then fearful of being found out, did he or she clam up?

I just checked the Brantford police page, and Mary left her home to walk to the Buns Master at 3:30 a.m. At 4:00 a.m. her co-worker called to say she hadn't shown up for work. She had the early morning shift. It wasn't clear in the earlier posts here that she was walking in the dark.


Mary Hammond

Yea, the whole bit with the partially eaten apple was odd to me, unless she was eating it as a breakfast on the way to work. I've been thinking about this quite a bit. I called the police department to speak to the investigator, but haven't received a call back (left a message yesterday). Police seem to be tight lipped on the DNA / blood evidence found on scene and about the weird brown truck, but they did reach out to a brother of hers in 2011/2012 (?) for a blood sample. Oddly, I read somewhere else that 2 of the co-workers underwent hypnosis to see if they could remember any other details and one of them mentioned seeing 3 people in the truck, 2 males and 1 female. The female possibly being Mary after being attacked. From everything I've read on her, she didn't have a "risky lifestyle", she dated the her husband for 4 years before getting married, they were only married for 4 months at the time this happened, she was described by family has being a homebody.

Do we know how much time passed before someone called the police? allegedly she left her house at 3:30 AM, didn't show up by 4:00AM (she was punctual), co-worker called her house, husband said she should be there any minute, she left at 3:30. Then I think co-worker called back at 4:15 AM, and then her husband followed her footprints to a field, didn't walk through the field, but walked around, borrowed a car (bc his was in the shop) and drove around the streets, didn't see anything and then they called the police. I don't know the time frame though.

 

[dotr]

Wondering what if anything happened with the search?
2012
New leads re-open 29-year-old cold case of Hamilton woman
rbbm

Mary and Lawrence Hammond on their wedding Day - Spectator file photo

"Brantford police are appealing to the public for information after re-opening a cold case on the 1983 disappearance of former Ancaster-area woman Mary Hammond.

New evidence has re-opened the investigation.

Hammond, whose maiden name was Bisenthal, left her townhouse on Elgin Street in Brantford around 3.30 a.m. on Sept. 8, 1983, for her early morning work shift at the former Buns Master Bakery on Morton Avenue, police said.


She had declined her husband’s offer to drive her and left the home alone to walk the 1.5 kilometres to work. At about 4 a.m., a co-worker called her husband asking why she wasn’t at work yet.

Hammond’s footprints were traced to a point where she cut across a field and evidence there included some items from her lunch, a cup, dish and half-eaten apple, one of Hammond’s white sockettes and a small quantity of blood. Back in 1983 police refused to reveal if the blood was the same type as Hammond’s, but a Spectator source indicated it was."
"Brantford police recently identified new evidence in the case which helped “strongly” identify people who may have been involved, including a former Brantford resident who is now dead.


Police have now searched and gathered evidence at a Market Street home in Brantford and are awaiting forensic results. The current resident is not connected to the investigation."

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

Wondering if this case has anything at all to do with this one? speculation, imo.
Innocence project searches for answers in historic Brantford murder | The Star
Jan 12 2016
"The night, according to Bradley Albon, began at a motel in Brantford, where Albon, 17, and an older man were drinking vodka, taking LSD and watching *advertiser censored*.

This was not unusual for them. Nor was the banter that began between them about what they knew about the death of 15-year-old Cindy McCauley more than two years before, on Dec. 1, 1983."

hmmm, very interesting. Was the older man noted in this article ever identified? This happened shortly after the disappearance of Mary.

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

This bld used to be the bakery where Mary worked.

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

The house on market street that was searched in 2012 in connection to the disappearance of Mary Hammond. There are up to 7 units in this building . Unsure if this was the same in 1983. No human remains were found.

Brantford Expositor

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

The original news articles in the Brantford Expositor give a little more details. Will scan and upload later today.

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

True Crime Real Time Podcast on Instagram: “First news article on the disappearance of Mary Hammond on Thursday, September 8, 1983”

Sorry tried to upload here but it wasn’t working and I am missing a USB cable to scan to my computer. Check the link to see the very first news article on Thursday September 8, 1983 in the Brantford Expositor. There are more coming but hoping to sort out my scanner thing

 

[dotr]

True Crime Real Time Podcast on Instagram: “First news article on the disappearance of Mary Hammond on Thursday, September 8, 1983”

Sorry tried to upload here but it wasn’t working and I am missing a USB cable to scan to my computer. Check the link to see the very first news article on Thursday September 8, 1983 in the Brantford Expositor. There are more coming but hoping to sort out my scanner thing

Interesting that LE already suggested that they " are unsure exactly what we have at the moment"

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

Brantford Expositor newspaper article Friday, September 9, 1983

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

Where is Mary?

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

Newspaper article, Brantford Expositor, Saturday, September 10th, 1983

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

Ok at some point this week when I’m not buried neck deep in data, coding, and app building I’ll head out that way to walk the route (approximate) to see how long it takes. I got a real good idea of where this field is which will narrow down the time line of when she was attacked.

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

273 Elgin street townhome where Mary lived

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

I walked the route the other day - took about 19-20 minutes. If she left her house at 3:30 am she would have made it to the field by 3:50. By 4 that truck left and Mary didn’t show for work. So whatever happened to her would have been a max 15 min window. 3:45 am to 4:00 am, but probably at 10 min window. (Depending how fast she walks)

 

[truecrime_realtime_pod]

I am going to scour some more old papers since the police aren’t getting back to me. I want to know if they ever did a sketch of that truck. I am thinking it was a 1948-1950 tan and brown pick up (bc of round headlights). Anyone have any thoughts on the year / make model (possibly ford) based on the description? The round headlights would be key I imagine. I’m not a car person though.