chronology in the disappearance of Moncton’s Donna O’Rielly,
Friday, Feb. 26
Before 8 p.m. — Things are slow at H&R Block’s office located in The Bay in Highfield Square. Donna O’Rielly, 54, calls the main office on Mountain Road to see if they need her help, as she often stops in to lend a hand on her way back to her home on Front Mountain Road. O’Rielly is told she is not needed that night, so she gets ready to head home.
8:08 p.m. — O’Rielly exits The Bay through the south entrance at the back of the building. The back of the building faces the CN Rail main line through the city and the nearest buildings with windows overlooking the mall are office complexes a considerable distance away across the railroad property. At that hour they would be largely empty. A high chain-link fence separates the mall parking lot from the train tracks. She is wearing a medium-length brown suede-like jacket and jeans. Her purse and lunch bag are slung over her left shoulder and she appears to be carrying her keys in her hand. O’Rielly’s car is in the main parking lot that runs along Main Street.
Friday evening — O’Rielly’s husband, Harold O’Rielly doesn’t worry when his wife doesn’t arrive home shortly after 8 p.m. Her shift doesn’t end at a fixed time and she usually finishes her day sometime between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Harold has supper ready for when she comes in and settles down to watch the men’s semi-final game against Slovakia at the Winter Olympics. Donna is a big sports fan and he knows she’s looking forward to getting home to watch the game. He dozes off on the couch waiting for her. Near midnight — Harold O’Rielly wakes to find his wife still hasn’t returned home. He calls his sister, who lives in Moncton, and when she tells him she hasn’t heard from Donna either, he immediately phones the RCMP. Donna O’Rielly has been missing for about four hours.
Early hours of
Saturday morning — Police find Donna O’Rielly’s car parked in the mall’s parking lot and the investigation grows.
Sunday, Feb. 28
Police and volunteers from Tri-County Ground Search and Rescue conduct a ground search around Highfield Square and along the nearby CN Rail main line, looking through dumpsters and in bushes for clues to O’Rielly’s disappearance. Police dogs aid in the search and an RCMP helicopter conducts an aerial search of that area, along the Petitcodiac River and its tributaries, and places like the West Lane pit and various wooded areas.
Monday, March 1 Members of O’Rielly’s family gather in Moncton. Besides her two daughters, Karen Streek of Petawawa, Ont., and Amy Popowych of Ottawa, Ont., within the week all but two of O’Rielly’s 11 siblings will arrive from across the country to offer each other support and help as much as they can in the search. From the first, O’Rielly’s family makes it abundantly clear that she would never willingly go anywhere without informing them. They say they suspect O’Rielly has been abducted.
Tuesday, March 2 Codiac Regional RCMP ask anyone who was at Highfield Square or in or near the mall’s parking lot from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the night of O’Rielly’s disappearance to contact them, even if they feel they have no information to offer.
Wednesday, March 3 Donna O’Rielly’s family holds a news conference in her home to appeal for her safe return. They explain O’Rielly was going through one of the happiest periods of her life. Harold O’Rielly had just retired, she was about to retire in the next couple of weeks and the couple had a long-awaited trip to Florida planned. Streek is pregnant with her third child, a baby the happy grandmother was looking forward to. Popowych is also expecting, but O’Rielly did not know that.
The two sisters were at Popowych’s home in Ottawa the night O’Rielly disappeared, waiting for their mother to return home from work so they could call her and share the news.
Friday, March 5 Codiac RCMP releases two video clips from the surveillance cameras inside The Bay. One shows the south entrance, through which Donna O’Rielly exited, the other the east or main entrance of the store. O’Rielly can be seen leaving the building in one of the clips, but police are more interested in speaking with all of the other people shown in the footage, who entered or left the mall within minutes of O’Rielly’s departure. They are hoping these witnesses may have seen or heard something that would lead to O’Rielly being found. Police say that at this point more than 200 tips have come in about the case.
Sunday, March 7 O’Rielly’s family holds a candle-light vigil at St. Bernard’s Church in Moncton. More than 300 people gather to pray and sing hymns and support the O’Rielly family.
Monday, March 8 Police have succeeded in speaking to some of the people in the video footage, but continue to ask others to come forward.
Tuesday, March 9 Police release two photos taken from a surveillance camera at the rear entrance of Highfield Square near the food court. One shows a man entering the mall, another a woman leaving. Police ask to speak to both as they believe they may have been in the parking lot when O’Rielly was leaving.
Wednesday, March 10 O’Rielly’s family announces a $25,000 reward is being offered for O’Rielly’s return.
Police announce they have been in contact with the man and woman in the most recently released surveillance photos.
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