Katherine Cora McNeil - 58 - Missing - October 4, 2010 - Amherst, NS

[debbiec]

RCMP seek public assistance in ongoing missing person investigation
October 3, 2011, Amherst, Nova Scotia . . .

Members of the Amherst Detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) are seeking the public's assistance with an ongoing missing person investigation.  Katherine Cora McNeil was last seen leaving the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Upper Nappan on Monday, October 4, 2010 at 9:15 a.m.  Following her disappearance, RCMP conducted an extensive search of the area near the hospital and local community. 

Over the past year the RCMP have followed up on close to a dozen potential sightings of McNeil in various locations, including Cumberland and King Counties in Nova Scotia and Dieppe, New Brunswick. Unfortunately, none have been proven to be positive.

McNeil is 58 years of age, heavy set, 5'0" tall, with gray or red hair. Investigators believe that McNeil could be using her birth name of Elizabeth Anne McNeil or the nickname "Moondancer."

RCMP investigators are looking to speak with anyone who may have seen or spoken with McNeil since October 4, 2010.  She has many friends throughout Cumberland County in Nova Scotia, as well as Moncton, New Brunswick, and British Columbia.  Katherine Cora McNeil was born in Queens County, Nova Scotia and therefore has ties to that area as well.

Anyone with any information about Ms. McNeil disappearance is asked to contact the Amherst RCMP Detachment at 902-667-3859 or any RCMP Detachment, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or by Secure Web Tips at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca.

http://www.iammissing.ca/Missing%20Details-Sept-11.html#Katherine_Cora_McNeil_

[debbiec]

McNeil is 58 years of age, heavy set, 5'0" tall, with gray or red hair. Investigators believe that McNeil could be using her birth name of Elizabeth Anne McNeil or the nickname "Moondancer."

[PleaseComeHome]

http://www.cumberlandnewsnow.com/News/Local/2011-11-16/article-2806633/Human-remains-found-behind-mall/1

[PeopleAreWeird]

“Her animals were a big part of her life and it would not be like her to simply abandon them.”

So sad.

I wonder if the body is Katherine's.

[Trouble445]

Possible update to this case?

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/33702-human-remains-found-amherst-woods

Human remains found in Amherst woods
November 17, 2011 - 4:40am By THE CANADIAN PRESS



AMHERST (CP) — Human remains have been found in woods in Amherst.

The discovery was reported to town police at about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday.

Deputy Chief Ian Naylor said in a release that investigators were trying to identify the remains and determine a cause of death.

Police didn’t say how the remains were discovered or how long they may have been at the site.

Officers could be seen at the location off Robert Angus Drive most of the afternoon.

The discovery was made about a kilometre from the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre, where 58-year-old Katherine McNeil left a year ago and disappeared.

McNeil had been admitted to the hospital the day before with an undisclosed ailment and subsequent searches of the area failed to find any trace of her.

[Neighbour]

Still not 100%--but they did find some pieces of identification belonging to Ms. McNeil at the scene.  So sad for this lady.   

http://www.cumberlandnewsnow.com/News/Local/2011-11-17/article-2808516/Remains-believed-to-be-those-of-McNeil/1

“Several pieces of identification for Ms. McNeil were located at the scene,” Amherst deputy police chief Ian Naylor said in a press release issued Thursday at 5:45 p.m. “However, positive identification and cause of death is pending further forensic analysis.”

Asked in a phone interview tonight how long it will be before a positive identification is made, Naylor said, “The autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow in Halifax and, depending on the results of the autopsy, we may have some indication of a timeline at that point.”

[PeopleAreWeird]

This is so sad. Is there any news?

[Neighbour]

The have finally released that the remains found were Katherine's.  They are not saying much more, but it doesn't sound to me as if it were any kind of 'natural' death.   

http://www.cumberlandnewsnow.com/News/Local/2011-11-22/article-2812064/Human-remains-identified/1

A press release issued by the Amherst Police Department today at 5 p.m. said that the, "Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service has positively identified the human remains that were discovered in Amherst, N.S. on Nov. 16 as Katherine Cora McNeil.  Ms. McNeil was reported missing in Oct. 2010 after leaving the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre."

Asked in a phone interview about the cause of death, Amherst Deputy Police Cheif Ian Naylor said the manner and cause of death "are still pending further investigation.

"As of right now, all I can say is our investigation will continue into the cause and manner of death," he said.

He wouldn't speculate on when that information would be available.

Asked in a phone interview about the cause of death, Amherst Deputy Police Cheif Ian Naylor said the manner and cause of death "are still pending further investigation."

"As of right now, all I can say is our investigation will continue into the cause and manner of death," he said.

He wouldn't speculate on when that information would be available..

My Opinion Only.

[solvy]

May you now rest in peace Katherine.

[Concerned]

Very sorry for the family and friends. Not the answers we were hoping for.

[hope nb]

Sad update.  Some answers for her family, at least.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/36143-discovery-sister%E2%80%99s-body-provides-closure

Julie Paquin has spent the last two days thinking about the sister she’d only just started reconnecting with.
 
On Tuesday, Amherst Police confirmed that human remains found in a wooded area off Robert Angus Drive belonged to Katherine Cora McNeil.
 
McNeil hadn’t been seen since walking out of the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Upper Nappan on Oct. 3, 2010.
 
The discovery of her body has provided "closure," Paquin said Wednesday in telephone interview from her Halifax residence.
 
A few years ago, McNeil moved home to Nova Scotia. For the sisters who grew up together in Halifax, but hadn’t seen one another since McNeil left for British Columbia nearly two decades earlier, it was a welcomed reunion. They often spent hours talking on the phone.
 
"She was extremely smart and talented," Paquin said of her sister.
 
"She won an arts scholarship to university when she was in high school and was a fabulous painter and cook."
 
But Paquin said McNeil was also a troubled soul, who’d recently suffered a brain injury caused by a tumour.
 
"She was a mixture of positive and negative," said Paquin. "She was not always easy to get a long with, but would you give the shirt off her back."
 
When McNeil returned to Nova Scotia, she brought Portia, a thoroughbred horse, with her. After living in River Phillip for a time, she moved to River Hebert where she camped on a property with her horse, two dogs and four cats. In 2009, McNeil made the news for riding Portia to a polling station to vote in the provincial election.
 
Two days after McNeil’s disappearance, Paquin received a birthday card from her sister that said her attempts to buy a property in River Hebert had "gone down the toilet."
 
"I believe she took an overdose," said Paquin.
 
"We have not had any indication of foul play," Deputy Chief Ian Naylor said. "The cause and manner of her death are still under investigation."
 
The area McNeil was found is about a kilometre from the hospital and is close to a pasture for horses and llamas. McNeil’s animals were put into care after her disappearance.

[jellybean]

Overdose was my concern, but I never expressed it.  She took her own life surrounded by animals that she loved.
So sad that she felt that hopeless in her life situation, and that no one could reach out to her with any meaning. Somehow she became weary of living it.

In the end, that was her decision, and we will never know why, but we should accept and respect it.
Rest in Peace Katherine Cora McNeil.
God loves you.
JB

[ususcatmcdirvm]

OMG..........did they even do a search for this lady...........found about a kilometer away and missing almost a year.........WTH.......how hard did they look for her

[eyeswideopen]

JB she was in a hospital, I dont believe she would have access to any drugs with witch to overdose with.  I know when I have been in any hospital they didnt even allow you to have a hot water bottle let alone any medication of your own.  Thus I find overdose very unlikely.  JMO.

[daughter]

Don't take this as gospel,but word in town was at the time that this lady was in the hospital at the time for a mental evaluation,so it is very likely it was possibly not drugs but her mind may have not been as it should have been?
 My heart goes out to the family,may she rest in peace now..