Sébastien Métivier

Left and Center: Sébastien circa, 1984

Right: Age-Progressed to age 27

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: November 1, 1984

Missing From: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Classification: Non-Family Abduction

Date Of Birth: December 4, 1975

Age: 8 years old

Height and Weight: 3’11” and 66 pounds

Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male, Brown hair, Brown eyes, Sébastien has a birthmark on his lower abdomen, a scar on his right cheek, and a piercing in his left ear

Clothing/Jewelry Description: A brown jacket, a blue/gray jogging suit, a pair of blue colored pants with a patch on the right knee, and red cougar styled boots

NCMEC Number: RCMP2012020114

Details of Disappearance

Sébastien was last seen in Montreal, Quebec Canada on November 1st 1984. He left his home in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve area with his friend, 12 year old Wilton Lubin. They went to attend a hobby workshop in the basement of the Tres-Saint-Nom-de-Jesus church located on the corner of Adam Street and Desjardins Avenue. The two were reportedly last seen standing outside of the church that evening. Neither boy ever returned home and were never seen again.

Their parents quickly reported them missing to police. Investigators initially classified the two boys as runaways and received multiple reported sightings of the pair in the weeks following their disappearances. Many of the sightings came from restaurants, arcades, and Olympic Stadium. Ten days after they vanished, witnesses reported they had seen both boys in front of a brasserie in St. Eustache selling chocolate bars. Other reports placed them at the Place Bourassa Shopping Centre in Montreal north.

According to the sightings, both boys were said to be wearing different clothing than what they were last reported to be wearing. This led police to suspect the boys had run away from home and were being aided and sheltered by an adult, possibly a chocolate bar vendor.

As a result, local chocolate bar suppliers were questioned in an effort to learn the boys whereabouts but it ultimately led nowhere. The witnesses who reported the sightings all said they weren’t positive the children they had seen were indeed the missing boys. The families of both boys doubted the possibility they left on their own from the very beginning.

Wilton suffered from anemia and was required to take one 5 mg tablet of folic acid three times a week. He did not have his medication with him when he disappeared and if he went without it, he could go into cardiac arrest and die. Lubin was known to go out and not come home until the middle of the night but his parents said he never spent a single night away from home and always came back. Some news reports falsely claimed Lupin had a habit of running away.

Sébastien’s family doubted the possibility as well because he knew his homes phone number by heart and would always call his mother no matter where he was, even if he was just at his grandmother’s house. He had no prior history of running away either.

After three weeks of investigation, police announced they suspected both boys had been abducted but that they were still alive. On December 2nd 1984, a duck hunter contacted police to report he had spotted a body locating in the St. Lawrence River near Ile Charron. The body was pulled from the river and was immediately identified as belonging to Wilton Lubin.

Wilton had been abducted by an unknown person who slashed his throat and then dumped his body in the river. He was still wearing the same clothing he wore on the day of his abduction which was a navy blue sweatshirt, jeans, a blue nylon jacket, and white running shoes. It was also determined he had likely died two to three weeks before his body was found. This indicated he died around the time him and Sébastien disappeared.

After the discovery of Wilton’s body, police and dive teams searched the Ile Charron and 60 surrounding islands for any trace of Métivier. It was feared he had met a similar fate to Wilton but despite various searches of the St. Lawrence River, no trace of him was ever found. Police were certain he and Lubin were abducted by a non-family member, probably as they were returning home from the workshop.

Both families have criticized the early investigation stating that the police should have considered the case an abduction from the start and it should’ve been investigated as such.

Investigators believe both Lubin and Métivier were the victims of a serial killer who abducted and murdered several children in the Montreal area during the 1980s and 1990s.

Police have also considered the possibility that 1981 murder of 12 year old Tammy Leaky, the 1989 murder of 10 year old Pascal Poulin, and the 1992 murder of 13 year old Marie-Ève Larivière could be connected to the unsolved 1984 cases. These three murders all took place in Montreal and might be related but police have found no evidence to support this theory.

The two boys weren’t the only children reported missing on November 1st 1984. That same day, four year old Maurice Viens disappeared while returning to his parents apartment on East End Dorion Street in Montreal with a playmate. The child later told police Maurice was lured into a car by a man who promised him candies. Six days later, his battered and partially nude body was found in a crawlspace beneath an abandoned house in St. Antoine Sur Richelieu, 65 kilometers northeast of Montreal.

Investigators determined Maurice was killed by a blow to the head and his back, buttocks, and legs were covered in bruises. There was also evidence of sodomizing on his body. Both Maurice and Lubin’s murders were never solved.

In December 1993, police announced they had named a prime suspect in the case. The suspect was named Jean-Baptiste Duchesneau and he was serving a sentence for sexual assault at La Macaza penitentiary. According to investigators, he lived near both boys when they were reported as missing in 1984 and it was discovered he had contact with Sébastien shortly before the two boys went missing.

In November, he was scheduled to submit to a lie detector test about Sébastien’s disappearance and Wilton’s murder but he killed himself in prison just a day before he was to take the test. Despite his death, police said they believed he was responsible for both boys’ deaths. He was previously convicted of killing seven year old Sylvia Tanguay with a hammer in 1974 but he was later released for this crime.

Investigators believe the Lubin and Métivier cases could be connected to the death of Maurice Viens due to distance and the fact that all three boys were taken on the same day. It’s also possible the cases are connected to the unsolved murder of five year old Denis Roux-Bergevin. The child disappeared while he was playing in the front yard of his home in Montreal on June 3rd 1985. His body was found three days later in Brossard.

Duchesneau is also a primary suspect in Denis’s murder as well as the murder of Maurice Viens. Both boys were similar in age and their murders bore similarities to one another. According to reports, he was also going to be questioned about these two cases but took his life before he could talk.

In 2011, Sébastien’s sister, Christiane Sirois, received a Facebook message from a woman who claimed she knew what happened to the missing boy. His sister agreed to meet the woman in person and when they did, the woman revealed that the boy had been abducted and murdered on the day of his disappearance before he was dismembered and buried in an unknown field.

The woman gave the name of the man she claims committed the crime but refused to give any information on his grave site. She said she kept the information secret for the previous two decades. After the meeting, Sirois immediately passed the information to authorities who investigated the claim. It’s unclear what came of the investigation.

Sébastien was a fourth grade student at the time of his 1984 disappearance. His family has never stopped searching for him and they’ve held marches and events in his honor to help raise awareness about his disappearance. They held out hope he was alive for many years but most people believe he was killed along with Wilton Lubin. Sébastien’s case remains unsolved and foul play is suspected.

Investigating Agency

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Service de police de la Ville de Montréal 514-393-1133

Source Information

Missing Children’s Network

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Doe Network

Meurtres Et Disparitions Irrésolus Du Quebec

Montreal CTV News

Wilton Lubin – Find a Grave

La Presse

CBC News