By Matt Wood and Tobi Cohen
Ottawa Sun

August, 2003

A summer of travel before embarking on a hectic university career turned into two decades of mystery and a missing person case so cold much of the information is gone.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of Angela Hartmann, who was last seen in the Ottawa area.

She was scheduled to begin studies at Trent University in Peterborough in September 1983, but when the 27-year-old didn't turn up, the university president notified her family.

Hartmann's father then notified police in San Francisco where he lived. The investigation revealed few clues and the case went on the "unsolved" pile where it has remained.

'ALWAYS WONDERED'

One of the few remaining links to Hartmann is Joe Hoffer. The pair met in February 1983 and dated briefly while she studied philosophy and English in Freiburg, Germany.

He moved to Cleveland after the pair split up to earn a bachelor's degree, but he had an incorrect mailing address for her and they lost touch with each other.

Hoffer learned of Hartmann's disappearance in September of that year from Hartmann's mother.

"I've always wondered what happened to her," he said.

As he knew Hartmann so long ago, Hoffer remembers few details. He did know she was going to travel in Canada for a couple of weeks before school and might have been using Ottawa as a base.

He tried to visit her mother when he returned to Germany in 1985, but she had moved and left no forwarding address.

About six months ago, Hoffer typed her name into a Google search hoping to find out what had happened to her.

He came across her case on the website of the Doe Network, an international volunteer organization dedicated to missing persons cold cases, contacted them and provided what information he could.

LOST CONTACT

Angela Ellis, a volunteer for the Doe Network, said they have been trying to track down Hartmann's family but San Francisco detectives lost contact with them over the years.

"There's very little information on her case. We need all the help we can get," she said, adding Hoffer is their only real lead.

But Ellis is hoping that perhaps someone in Ottawa might remember Hartmann, where she stayed or worked, or if she had family in the region.

"We just need to get her picture out there, hoping that someone will recognize her, remember something or be willing to talk after a long time," she said.

"We've found after relationships change, people may be more willing to talk about something that may have happened."

Given the amount of time that has passed since the initial report, much of the information is sketchy at best, but there is some that could jar a friend or relative's memory.

Hartmann was born in Marin County, Calif., near San Rafael on Jan. 4, 1956. She spent time in the U.S. and Germany before coming to Canada to travel.

Her father's name is W.H. Hartmann, who could be living in San Francisco or may have passed away, and she had a sister named Gabriele or Gabriella, whose married name is unknown.

Hartmann had an American passport, but spent time living in Germany with her mother, whose maiden name was Jurgens, and had family living in Hamburg.

"Whether she's alive or dead, we just want to be able to close the case," Ellis explained. "We want her family to be able to know what happened to her."

The San Francisco Police Department handled the investigation, but as time wore on, contact with the family was broken, providing the Doe Network with very little to go on.

"That's part of the reason I am trying to bring attention to her case, because she was just left in the dust as far as any attention to her case (was concerned)," said Ellis. "Her case is like many other missing women in Canada. There could be a murderer walking loose out there."

LOCAL UNSOLVED CASES

The Doe Network lists several unsolved cases from the Ottawa area on its website at www.doenetwork.org, including:

- Unidentified Caucasian female: Discovered May 3, 1975 floating face down in the Nation River, 100 metres from Hwy. 417. Estimated at 26-30 years old, 5-foot-3 and weighing about 100 lbs. She had been beaten, strangled and bound with neckties. No identification was made following checks of fingerprints and dental records.

- Janette Brunet: Missing since Jan. 31, 1988 from Ottawa. Twenty-six years old, 5-foot-8, 115 lbs., dark blond hair, light complexion and slender build. On Jan. 30, 1988, Brunet left her daughter with a babysitter and went to Ozzie's Eatery. The next day, an employee found her broken pendant in a parking lot behind the bar.

- Lisa Jean Somerton: Missing since Feb. 4, 1988, from Ottawa. Twenty-three years old, 5-foot-8, reddish-brown hair, blue eyes with a slim build. Somerton was to testify against an ex-boyfriend charged with assaulting her. Police believe she may have run away. Without her testimony, charges were withdrawn. Years later, a friend said Somerton had been seen in a North Carolina amusement park, but it was never confirmed.

- Josee Boutin: Missing since Feb. 22, 1988, from Ottawa. Twenty-one years old, 5-foot-5, about 120 lbs., brown eyes, light complexion and long dark brown hair. She called her employer to say she wouldn't be at work that afternoon. At 4:50 p.m. a teacher saw her run across the intersection of Ogilvie and Montreal roads, two blocks from her parents' house.

- Patrick James Mahoney: Missing since Aug. 12, 1992. Twenty-six years old, 6-foot-1, 170 lbs., black hair with some grey, hazel eyes, a smoker, wears contacts. Mahoney simply disappeared from Ottawa. He was last seen wearing black shoes and blue jeans.

- Unidentified Caucasian male: Found Sept. 5, 2001, near Deep River. Twenty-eight to 40 years old, 5-foot-4, 130 lbs., slim build with no scars or tattoos. No trauma to the body. Had a blue knapsack with several possessions, including a luggage tag from a Costa Rican airline, laundry bag from Sutton Place Hotel in Toronto and matches from Sheraton Hotel, W Hotels and Vancouver's Barclay Hotel.

Anyone with information about any of these cases can call the Ottawa police at 236-1222.