(Unfortunately “Celebrating Little Things” is the slogan I use for my blog site. This blog is not a celebration, nor it is a little thing. )
August 12, 1989 – a date forever etched in the memories of many people, none more so than the McAndrew family. This date is the last known sighting of Kimberly McAndrew.
The McAndrew Family moved to my community in the summer of 1976. Audrey was a stay at home Mom, who’s smile would light up a room. Cyril, originally from Ireland, was a respected member of the RCMP. He was the sergeant at the local detachment in Port Hawkesbury. When we heard a new family was moving in, with 5 kids, our community was very excited. There were five daughters; Heather, Erin, Carla, Kimberly and Megan. A son, James, would arrive in July 1977. They also had an Irish Setter named Seamus. I was so happy to learn that Erin, the second oldest, was going into grade 6, and so was I. We became friends while attending a two room school, South Mountain Elementary, before moving on for grades 7-12 at St. Peter’s District High. Although life took over and we were not always in touch, we have remained friends, and thanks to Facebook we continue to be connected.
I was home during the winter of 1984. I enjoyed attending the high school hockey games and I would call Carla and Kimberly to see if they wanted to go to the games. On a few occasions they came along. They had a long driveway through an open field that they used during the winter. The regular driveway banked in with so much snow, that it was difficult to keep open. I would pick them up at the end of their driveway, and when we returned they would scamper through the field of snow, to their house. I kept my headlights on the driveway until they were out of sight. I remember being afraid they would fall, and get hurt, before getting home.
In 1985 the McAndrew’s moved to Parrsboro. Audrey and the children went first, while Cyril stayed through the winter. Cyril then transferred to Halifax, and commuted to Parrsboro to be with the family. After a 33 year career, he retired in August 1989.
n August 1989, Kimberly was a 19 year old Dalhousie University student. She had a job at the Canadian Tire on Quinpool Road. On August 12, she was working a shift at the Canadian Tire and looking forward to an evening out with her boyfriend, celebrating his birthday and attending the Buskers Festival. Her boss let her leave at 4:20pm, instead of her usual time of 5pm. She walked out the back door and has not been seen since. Her boyfriend was to pick her up at work at 5pm but when he arrived, Kimberly was not there. He would have driven the same route Kimberly would have taken on her walk home, but she was not seen. She was also not at her apartment. She had only the clothes she was wearing, and her blue bag that she used going back and forth to work, with her.
Kimberly was born on January 17, 1970. When she disappeared, she was 5’5” and 110lbs, had very light brown/blonde hair and brown eyes. She had braces on both her upper and lower teeth and she was very much looking forward to having them removed in a few days. Her bank account has never been touched and she never returned to her apartment.
I remember first hearing Kimberly disappeared while I was sipping a grapefruit pop at the local golf resort. A friend asked me if I had heard the news. I could not fathom that this had happened. This beautiful family, that had been part of our community for several years, was now suffering an unimaginable situation. How could this be? I thought of the times I was afraid Carla and Kim would get hurt running through a field of snow, and now one of them was missing in Halifax. How insignificant my worry had been. I remember wanting to reach out to the family, but in those days there was no internet, or email. I wasn’t even sure where they were. In September, I was playing in a golf tournament in Parrsboro. I had received their phone number from mutual friends, so I called, but I only reached a recording. I don’t remember just what the recording said, but the end was something to the affect of ‘if this is you Kimberly, say something’. I hung up. I had no idea what to say. I was nauseous . And as disturbing as it was to me, what was the family going through.
Early on there was a possible sighting in the hours after Kimberly had left work. She was thought to have been seen at a flower shop in Penhorn Mall in Dartmouth. This would have been totally out of character for Kimberly. She was not the adventurous type and navigating from Quinpool Road to Penhorn Mall would have been quite an adventure for her to attempt on her own. Besides, she had plans for the evening with her boyfriend, so she would likely not have gone to Dartmouth without telling him or some of her family.
Remember, this was a time when surveillance cameras, cellphones, texting, and communicating were not as prevalent, or as easy, as today.
There are two persons of interest. One does not remember all the names of his victims and therefore doesn’t remember if he had anything to do with Kimberly’s disappearance. An apartment was searched and pictures of Kimberly were displayed on the walls and a blue knapsack was found, but no charges were ever laid. Over the years there have been searches carried out on various properties, some of which were Point Pleasant Park, Sir Sandford Fleming Lake, and Shad Bay but nothing ever turned up. In 2002, remains were found along Highway 101, but it was determined they were not Kimberly’s.
Tom Martin, a cold case expert and retired police detective, has been stumped by Kimberly’s disappearance. He is convinced whatever happened to her, happened in the parking lot of the Canadian Tire.
A psychic was contacted, and spoken with, on several occasions, once with some of the family present. Based on the psychic’s information, divers were used to search a lake, and grounds at Point Pleasant Park were searched, but unfortunately nothing was discovered.
Sadly Cyril McAndrew passed away in September 2004, never knowing what happened to his daughter. He was obsessed with finding her, and pursued all possible tips. Being a former RCMP officer, I can only assume it made it even more agonizing for him to not be able to solve this mystery. He truly lived in hope and died in despair.
In May 2019, I went to Ireland. I contacted Erin to see where her father was from and told her where I was going on my trip. She told me Cyril was from Glencastle, County Mayo. She said the closest town I’d probably see on a sign was Ballina. I noticed a sign to Ballina while seated on the coach. How I wished I could have asked our driver to stop for a second so I could take a picture. But instead I focused my thoughts on Cyril and Kimberly. Later that afternoon, after we had checked in to our hotel in Westport, I went for a walk around the town. What do you suppose I found but a sign pointing to Ballina? I took a picture and spent some time standing and looking at the sign and again thinking about Kimberly’s disappearance and how Cyril never knew what happened.
Personally, whenever I hear that remains have been found, I secretly hope they are Kimberly’s, but then I feel a pang of guilt. Of course I don’t wish Kimberly to be deceased. I just wish something, or someone, would come forward to solve this missing person case. Some people have said it would bring closure. Seriously? Closure? I can’t imagine remains would bring closure. It may start the process to finding out what happened, but I can’t imagine closure.
Kimberly would be 51 now. She’d be an aunt to her many nieces and nephews. She would probably be a wife and a mom. She’d likely be successful like her siblings. She would be, and still is, a daughter and a sister, and an aunt, and a friend to many.
In Dundee Kimberly has never been forgotten. It is not unusual, whenever I see friends, that her name comes up in conversation. Many of us still refer to the house they lived in as “McAndrew’s House”. It will always be McAndrews House, as far as I’m concerned.
You might ask what I hope this blog brings forth. I don’t really know. This past August there were no articles on Facebook about Kimberly’s disappearance. There were no articles in the newspapers. Missing people are missing. They are not forgotten by family and friends. They are very much in the present tense. Their names and stories need to be talked about. We need to keep their disappearance front and centre. I’ll ask anyone who reads this to share it on Facebook, please. Maybe someone, somewhere in this world, will read it and maybe it will trigger that all important clue to help bring Kimberly home. No clue is insignificant, no matter how small you might think it might be. Maybe the gutless, heartless person, or people, who played a role in Kimberly’s disappearance, will finally come forward with information. This family has suffered long enough.
This blog was written with permission from, and viewed by, the McAndrew Family prior to posting. I would like to thank Audrey, Heather, Erin, Carla, Megan and James.
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