In the pre-dawn hours of September 8, 1983, 25-year-old Mary Emma Hammond, also known as née Bisenthal, left her home on Elgin Street in Brantford, Ontario, for her early morning shift. It was a routine she had followed for about a year, walking the roughly one-and-a-half kilometers to her job at the Buns Master Bakery. On this particular morning, she walked north along what is now the Wayne Gretzky Parkway, passed the Massey-Ferguson factory, and then took a familiar shortcut across a field behind the bakery. Her journey, however, was tragically interrupted. When she failed to arrive for her 4:00 a.m. start time, a concerned co-worker called her husband, setting in motion a search that would span decades.
Investigators who arrived on the scene soon discovered a deeply unsettling trail of evidence. Mary's footprints were tracked to the edge of the field near the back of the bakery, where they abruptly stopped.
Scattered nearby were personal effects from her lunch, including a cup, a dish, and a half-eaten apple. Chillingly, one of her white socks and a small amount of blood were also found in the field, painting a grim picture of her final moments on that path. Despite an intensive investigation, which included reports of an older model brown pickup truck seen in the area around the time of her disappearance, the trail went cold. Just days after she vanished, on September 11, 1983, police executed a search warrant at a residence on Memorial Drive and seized evidence, but for nearly four decades, these items held their secrets and Mary's fate remained a painful mystery for her family and community.
For thirty-nine years, the question of what happened to Mary Hammond lingered, a cold case marked by enduring grief and unanswered questions. Then, in June of 2022, a significant breakthrough brought a measure of clarity, if not complete closure. The Brantford Police Service announced that advancements in mitochondrial DNA analysis had allowed them to forensically link evidence seized from the Memorial Drive home in 1983 to Mary. This scientific advancement identified Stephen Mudko, who was 36 years old and lived at that residence at the time of Mary's disappearance, as the individual believed to be responsible for her abduction and murder. Mudko passed away in 2010 and therefore could never face justice in a court of law. Had he been alive, authorities stated he would have been charged with abduction and first-degree murder. While investigators now know who was responsible for this tragedy, the whereabouts of Mary Emma Hammond remain unknown. The police believe other people may have information, and the investigation continues in the hope of one day bringing her home to rest.Last Seen: Sep 8, 1983
