Do you know Rosemarie Helga Döderlein, who went missing at age 14 in 1954 in Montreal?
Her family believes the key to solving the decades-old mystery is someone in Etobicoke, who’s a close DNA match to Döderlein’s sister, Vera Hastie, 79.
Döderlein would be 81 today.
“We’re just trying to solve this. We’re getting so close,” Vera Hastie’s daughter Christa Hastie said during a Zoom interview with her mom in her Coronado, California living room.
A portrait of Rosemarie Helga Döderlein at age 14 when she went missing in late 1954 in Montreal, Que.
A portrait of Rosemarie Helga Döderlein at age 14 when she went missing in late 1954 in Montreal, Que. Oleksiy Yakovlyev portrait.
Döderlein was born on Nov. 17, 1940, in Germany.
Hilda, the girls’ mother, asked Rosemarie to go to the bakery after school in late November or early December 1954, two months after the family had arrived in Montreal from Germany. They lived at 5370 Randall Ave., in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce/Côte Saint-Luc area of Montreal, Que.
Rosemarie was never seen by her family again.
“She was a gorgeous, tall, bright, blue-eyed girl who didn’t speak any English or French yet,” Vera, who was 11 when her sister disappeared, wrote on her Facebook group. “She was kind and innocent and very helpful.”
Vera Döderlein Hastie, seated in the middle, is surrounded by her family, clockwise from top left, Christa Hastie, granddaughter Mischa, grandson Kian, son-in-law Ali, and granddaughters Maddie and Mila in July at Nordhoff Cemetery in Ojai, CA. They were sharing updates with Vera’s late mother, Hilda, on their search for Vera’s sister, Rosemarie Doederlein, who went missing at age 14 in 1954 in Montreal, Que.
Vera Hastie, seated in the middle, is surrounded by her family, clockwise from top left, Christa Hastie, granddaughter Mischa Waydo, grandson Kian Sepahdari, son-in-law Ali Sepahdari, and granddaughters Maddie Sepahdari and Mila Waydo in July at Nordhoff Cemetery in Ojai, California. They were sharing updates with Vera’s late mother, Hilda, on their search for Vera’s sister, Rosemarie Helga Döderlein, who went missing at age 14 in 1954 in Montreal, Que. | Whitney Hartmann photo
During the 1960s, Vera wrote under the letter “D" her parents’ phone number and urged Rosemarie to call them in every public phone booth along Route 66, and in California, where she had moved.
In May, Vera created a public Facebook group, “Montreal 1954 Girl Vanished Rosemarie Helga Doederlein: Help Us Find Her!”
In June, the Montreal Gazette and CBC Montreal reported Vera’s story, which resulted in several tips from people in south Etobicoke, who believe they may have known Rosemarie as either “Mary” or “Helga”.
Meanwhile, Christa and her mother have worked with genealogists in Germany, the U.S. and Canada.
Recently, they got a hit on Ancestry.com; Vera is a close DNA match to someone in Etobicoke.
“According to professional DNA tools and genetic genealogists, whoever ‘Mary’ is, 100 per cent, this is her (relative),” Christa said of the Etobicoke person, who declined to be interviewed for this article.
Toronto police recently began an investigation into Döderlein’s 1954 disappearance, Toronto police Const. Victor Kwong said.
“The Toronto Police Service’s Missing Persons Unit is currently in the process of gathering information from the family, Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal where the incident was first reported, and other public agencies that may have information helpful to the investigation,” Kwong said in an email.
“Although this investigation is very much in its early stages for the Toronto Police Service, we encourage anyone with information, no matter how small they believe the tip to be, to call the Missing Persons Unit at 416-808-7411."
Anyone with information can also contact Christa Hastie at iloveapplesandbananas23@gmail.com
Vera and her daughter have several theories about what may have happened to Döderlein.
“Was she taken and sold for prostitution?” Christa said. “Was it a child trafficking ring? Domestic work? Or was she in the wrong place at the wrong time in that area with a single child predator? Or did she run away from home? So many girls disappeared in Montreal at that time.”
Left to right, Mischa Hastie, Vera Hastie, and family friend, Julija Zonic, who sang German songs with Vera’s family as they released doves. Vera and her daughter, Christa Hastie, are searching for Vera’s sister, Rosemarie Helga Döderlein, who went missing at age 14 in 1954 in Montreal, Que. They believe she may live, or have lived, in Mimico in south Etobicoke.
Left to right, Mischa Hastie, Vera Hastie, and family friend, Julija Zonic, who sang German songs with Vera’s family as they released doves. Vera and her daughter, Christa Hastie, are searching for Vera’s sister, Rosemarie Helga Döderlein, who went missing at age 14 in 1954 in Montreal, Que. They believe she may live, or have lived, in Mimico in south Etobicoke. | Whitney Hartmann photo
Vera said she hopes for a reunion, or to learn, at long last, what became of her sister.
“I still have her purse, books she’d written in, her 1950s jewelry,” Vera said. “I saved them just in case I ever get a knock at the door.”
And if Vera did get to meet her sister?
“I would probably be speechless,” she said, crying. “To find her alive, my God. I would make sure she understands we never stopped looking for her. We never stopped loving her. I want her to know we always, always think about her.”
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: When Christa Hastie reached out to the Etobicoke Guardian for help in finding her mom's missing sister, reporter Tamara Shephard was keen to learn more about the case and how people in Etobicoke could help.
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