Circumstances of Disappearance
Ron and his wife, Terry Pettit left Edmonton, Alberta on June 9, 1973 to head east to Montreal, in a battered Volkswagen Beetle. They were going to attend a wedding on June 16, 1973, then head to the Maritimes, where Ron hoped to land a teaching position and Terry, an Edmonton Journal reporter, intended to seek work as a journalist. En route, they stopped to visit friends near Brandon. The next day, they stopped in Dryden, Ontario, and mailed a one-word postcard to Edmonton.
They did not come to the wedding and have never been seen or heard of since.
They traveled in a 1959 Volkswagen Beetle, red with a green hood, green fender and Alberta license CA3-262. The car was filled with a white, three-metre kayak and boxes of clothes, books and household goods.
Their bank accounts have never been touched and their Volkswagen has never shown up anywhere. Ron's life insurance has never been collected. The couple has never been declared dead.
There was talk the couple was planning to go to Europe, but police say only Terry had a passport. They may have decided against staying on the narrow, hilly Trans-Canada Highway and headed south, crossing the U.S. border at International Falls and on to Duluth, MN. It's unclear whether police ever checked on that possibility, or if there are records of their entry into the U.S.
Ron is described as laid back, and a calming influence. A farm boy from Andrew, Alta, he was described by friends as "down to Earth" and "extremely sensible and mature."
