In the late autumn of 1969, a promising young man from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, vanished into the Colchester County woods, leaving behind a mystery that has endured for decades. Seventeen-year-old Patrick Paddon, known affectionately as Paddy, was a Grade 11 student at Prince Andrew High School with aspirations of becoming an RCMP officer. On the morning of Saturday, November 29, 1969, Paddy, an experienced and well-prepared woodsman, set out for a day of deer hunting with his father and uncle in the Burnside area, near Upper Stewiacke. He was a capable and thoughtful young man, known for his kindness and love of the outdoors, and had been mentored in bushcraft and hunting skills. That morning, he was equipped with a compass, food, a safety flare, a pocket watch, and wax-sealed matches. The hunting party established clear rules for safety: no one was to cross the road or the river, and they were all to rendezvous at a friend's nearby farmhouse at noon.
His father's last words to him were a lighthearted caution, "Don't shoot too many deer."
As midday arrived, Paddy's father and uncle returned to the designated meeting spot, but the young man did not appear. Concern grew with each passing hour. By 1:30 p.m., his family began to search the area and nearby towns, but there was no sign of him. An extensive official search was launched, involving volunteers, military personnel, and the Department of Natural Resources, combing a vast 72.5-square-kilometre area on foot, by helicopter, and on snowmobiles. Despite the massive effort, searchers found no trace of Patrick or any of his belongings—not his rifle, his coat, or the supplies he carried. The only potential clue was a single set of footprints, but they led nowhere conclusive. The official search was eventually called off on December 8, leaving his family with unanswered questions.
The case took a perplexing turn with a reported sighting of a young man matching Paddy's description on Pembroke Road at approximately 2:45 p.m. that same day, just a short time before his family began their frantic search. A driver reported speaking with the youth, who asked for the time and was seen walking towards Riversdale. This detail created a bafflingly narrow window of time for his disappearance from a main road, as his family was in the immediate vicinity shortly after, firing signal shots and sounding their car horn to no avail. Over the years, the disappearance of Patrick Paddon has become one of Nova Scotia's most enduring mysteries. He went into the woods for a day of sport and family connection and seemingly vanished without a trace. Despite the passage of more than half a century, his family has never given up hope for answers, and the story of the bright young man who went hunting and never came home continues to resonate.Last Seen: Nov 1, 1969
