CANADA Canada - Montreal, WhtMale 20s, bright red hair, 'Michel' on bracelet, Jul'11

[branmuffin]

I have never been to Canada.

That aside, how common is bright red hair amongst French Canadians? And what about in France?

My French relatives are from a fading sub group where red heads are rare (to say the least) and likely to stand out. I dont know about the over all French population though.

Most redheads' origins are from Ireland and Scotland but red hair can be seen in many ethnic backgrounds hovering around 2%. In Jewish populations usually the Ashkenazi, redheads make up about 4% of the population. The bible refers to many individuals as having red hair. This article dating from May 2013 is about a gathering of redheads in Montreal. It states that Quebec also has around 4% of the population as being redheads which is above the norm. Many of the attendees who comment have French names. I don't know if it was an annual event or this was the first one.

'Revenge of the redheads': Ginger-haired Montrealers gather in celebration

Mount Royal park usually turns red only in the autumn but a large group of redheads transformed the mountain to that shade on a spring Saturday instead.

montreal.ctvnews.ca

 

[BootsMinor]

I have never been to Canada.

That aside, how common is bright red hair amongst French Canadians? And what about in France?

My French relatives are from a fading sub group where red heads are rare (to say the least) and likely to stand out. I dont know about the over all French population though.

There are quite a few French redheads which is understandable since two of the main sources of early immigrants were Scotland and France.

 

[Cryptic]

There are quite a few French redheads which is understandable since two of the main sources of early immigrants were Scotland and France.

Your mention of Scotland reminds me that France also has a Celtic area (Brittany). I would not be surprised if that area is the source of a good number of French red heads.

 

[Cryptic]

It states that Quebec also has around 4% of the population as being redheads which is above the norm.

Wow, I never would have guessed.

Then again, my contact with people of French origin is pretty regionalized. There were simply not a lot of red heads in Marseille 40(+) years ago.

 

[branmuffin]

Wow, I never would have guessed.

Then again, my contact with people of French origin is pretty regionalized. There were simply not a lot of red heads in Marseille 40(+) years ago.

You have to remember that the French who migrated to Canada back in the 1700s were more likely to intermarry with people of Irish, Scottish and English ethnicity rather than those in Europe who were mixing with Spanish, Italian, Portuguese ethnicities that have more southern European characteristics. Even the French language spoken in Canada is very different than European French, it's more of an archaic style. Language is a living thing that is influenced by other languages.

 

[Aurora90]

Un homme de 33 ans porté disparu

Le Service de police de la Ville de Québec demande l'aide de la population pour retrouver un homme de 33 ans porté disparu depuis le 20 avril dernier.

ici.radio-canada.ca

That is the closest thing I could find. But I still am not sure this would be him.

Bumping for this John Doe.

 

[dotr]

Un homme de 33 ans porté disparu

Le Service de police de la Ville de Québec demande l'aide de la population pour retrouver un homme de 33 ans porté disparu depuis le 20 avril dernier.

ici.radio-canada.ca

That is the closest thing I could find. But I still am not sure this would be him.

Bumping for this John Doe.

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2012/05/16/homme-de-33-ans-retrouve

16 May 2012
''QUEBEC CITY – Vincent Fortin-Taillon, missing since April 20, was finally found in Montreal on Tuesday.''

 

[Fake Protagonist]

I've been following this thread for years and he's always stuck with me. He has his own page on the SPVM website now (in French). No new info there but it does confirm he's still unidentified.

 

[musicaljoke]

I've been following this thread for years and he's always stuck with me. He has his own page on the SPVM website now (in French). No new info there but it does confirm he's still unidentified.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if @othram could be called in.

 

[LucyOso]

Is there a possibility his hair was not red? That this was henna or dye? The picture is not the greatest but it sure looks like he has very dark facial hair.

 

[Mandala]

With such distinctive features it’s hard to know why he hasn’t been identified. I wonder if he grew up in state care (not sure what they call it in Montreal) and his biological parents passed away or never knew him. Then he may have got into the wrong scene, leading to drug use and mental health. If he was living rough maybe no one knew he was gone, or his associates don’t have internet or tv to see the picture of him on the bridge.
But someone must remember him! Unless he wasn’t from the area. This case is so strange. Is there certainty that he is still unidentified or just lack of reporting and he has been identified?

 

[Fake Protagonist]

With such distinctive features it’s hard to know why he hasn’t been identified. I wonder if he grew up in state care (not sure what they call it in Montreal) and his biological parents passed away or never knew him. Then he may have got into the wrong scene, leading to drug use and mental health. If he was living rough maybe no one knew he was gone, or his associates don’t have internet or tv to see the picture of him on the bridge.
But someone must remember him! Unless he wasn’t from the area. This case is so strange. Is there certainty that he is still unidentified or just lack of reporting and he has been identified?

Still unidentified, per official SPVM website.

Not sure he was a drug user at the time of his death as there were no drugs or alcohol in his system when he died (per coroner's report posted a few pages back). But possibly in his past, I guess.

I personally think he's French-Canadian. Witness approached him just before he jumped and he spoke fluent French to them. Plus his bracelet was engraved with a French name (Michel). I've known about this boy since 2021 and I'm still so shocked he wasn't identified or even reported missing when he seems so local. It's so sad to me how there was only ever one article written about him way back in 2011 and since then it's pretty much been radio silence. He was basically forgotten outside of Websleuths. This could be easily solved with more publicity.

 

[Fake Protagonist]

Is there a possibility his hair was not red? That this was henna or dye? The picture is not the greatest but it sure looks like he has very dark facial hair.

No mention of facial hair in any reports so I think it's just a shadow on his chin. They mentioned all his other features so I think they'd have mentioned this too.

Also just to have it on record, I re-read the coroner's report yesterday, and it does confirm he was wearing glasses. I don't think the glasses were found on the body, so I guess that info was from the witness who spoke to him on the bridge.

 

[Aurora90]

I spent some time looking through old newspaper articles via BAnQ : Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec | BAnQ

I wasn't able to find much but I did happen to stumble upon this pull quote that apparently is in the June 30th, 2011 edition of Le Nouvelliste

He has blond- red hair . Anyone who can help find these young men is asked to contact investigator Sylvie Langlois at (819) 370-6700 ext. 3255, by email at [email protected] or directly with Public Security at (819) 691-2929.

It looks like a police investigator from Trois-Rivières, Quebec was looking for someone with blond-red hair in June of 2011 but I can't open the newspaper to look into it further. I have no idea of this is someone who might fit the bill of this John Doe or not.

I know our John Doe has red-red hair as opposed to blonde-red hair but it's something that I think deserves a look, if I can somehow find the contents of this newspaper.

Does anyone know how to access the June 30th edition of Le Nouvelliste?

 

[Danaya]

I spent some time looking through old newspaper articles via BAnQ : Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec | BAnQ

I wasn't able to find much but I did happen to stumble upon this pull quote that apparently is in the June 30th, 2011 edition of Le Nouvelliste

It looks like a police investigator from Trois-Rivières, Quebec was looking for someone with blond-red hair in June of 2011 but I can't open the newspaper to look into it further. I have no idea of this is someone who might fit the bill of this John Doe or not.

I know our John Doe has red-red hair as opposed to blonde-red hair but it's something that I think deserves a look, if I can somehow find the contents of this newspaper.

Does anyone know how to access the June 30th edition of Le Nouvelliste?

It took a bit of digging, but I found the Le Nouvelliste Juns 30th 2011 edition.

Unfortunately, despite being born in Quebec, I don't speak French. Maybe someone can translate?

ETA: I googled the boy in the first photo, the one with the shaved head, and he was found alive. It appears as if he also went missing again in 2021, but he was found safe. I'm purposely not mentioning his name here for privacy.

After Googling his name, I do believe the boy in the second photo is alive. Same with the boy in the third photo.

Lastly, I think I found the boy in the last photo, and he appears to be doing well.

 

[LucyOso]

No mention of facial hair in any reports so I think it's just a shadow on his chin. They mentioned all his other features so I think they'd have mentioned this too.

Also just to have it on record, I re-read the coroner's report yesterday, and it does confirm he was wearing glasses. I don't think the glasses were found on the body, so I guess that info was from the witness who spoke to him on the bridge.

It looks like "shadow" but more like 5 o'clock shadow. You maybe can see the pattern of where facial hair would be if he grew a beard/mustache. It seems really dark. Could also be the quality of the photo.

The guy has a pretty distinct face. That is why I was thinking, ok if we search bu faces, not hair color...

 

[Carovb5]

On facebook he was posted as “identified” today, without a name. Anyone knows if this is true with a link? Would be so wonderfull!

 

[Fake Protagonist]

On facebook he was posted as “identified” today, without a name. Anyone knows if this is true with a link? Would be so wonderfull!

Apparently the info came directly from the Québec Coroner. Maybe someone can contact them to confirm? I would if my French was good enough.

Really hoping this is true. I wonder how he was ID’d if so.

Edit: He’s still listed as unidentified on the SPVM website.

 

[anijs6]

just hearsay so far, nothing concrete

 

[Fake Protagonist]

Even just a screenshot of the email she apparently received from the coroner would be good as confirmation. It just seems so odd to me to first announce an ID on a non-official Facebook page of all places.

But maybe I'm being overly skeptical. I'm still haunted by the years when I followed a similar-ish Doe case very closely on Reddit and there were fake troll posts in his dedicated subreddit every few months announcing his "official identification".

Weirdly the Facebook post where this was announced has commenting turned off. I don't follow this group as I don't use Facebook - is that typical there?