Jean Poirier-Guénard

On the last Saturday of February 1972, a man named Jean Poirier-Guénard climbed into his 1965 Oldsmobile and set out from his home, heading for the city of Montreal, Quebec. It was the evening of February 26, a time when the city was navigating a period of significant social and political change. For Mr. Poirier-Guénard, however, the drive into the city was his last known journey. After that evening, he vanished without a trace, and those who knew him would never see him alive again.

Several days passed before his absence became an official concern and his disappearance was formally reported to the authorities. For two weeks, his whereabouts remained a complete mystery. The silence was broken on March 11, 1972, when an anonymous telephone call directed police to a grim discovery. Officers were dispatched to an area beneath a highway overpass, a location facing the address of 2651 Metropolitan Boulevard in Montreal. There, they found the missing 1965 Oldsmobile, abandoned and out of sight.

Inside the car, investigators found the body of Jean Poirier-Guénard. The discovery confirmed the worst fears of those who had reported him missing and immediately turned a disappearance case into a homicide investigation. The anonymous nature of the tip suggested that someone had knowledge of the crime but was unwilling or afraid to come forward publicly. The location where the car was left, tucked away under a major thoroughfare, indicated a deliberate effort to conceal the vehicle and its tragic contents from public view.

The investigation into the murder of Jean Poirier-Guénard was taken over by the Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force responsible for investigating serious crimes across Quebec. In the early 1970s, forensic science was not what it is today, and investigators would have relied on traditional methods of evidence collection and witness interviews. Despite their efforts, the case grew cold. Leads dried up, and with no new information coming in, the identity of the person or people responsible for his death remained unknown.

Over the decades, the file on Jean Poirier-Guénard’s murder has remained open, passed down through generations of detectives. It is one of hundreds of unsolved homicides and long-term disappearances that are now managed by the Sûreté du Québec's Division of Unsolved Crimes. These cold cases present immense challenges, as memories fade, potential witnesses pass away, and physical evidence can degrade over time. Yet, investigators hold out hope that a new tip, a guilty conscience, or a breakthrough in forensic technology could one day provide the missing piece of the puzzle.

As of May 2026, more than half a century after his death, the case of Jean Poirier-Guénard was highlighted by news media as one of Montreal's enduring unsolved homicides. The Sûreté du Québec continues to actively solicit information from the public, believing that someone, somewhere, still holds the key to understanding what happened during the two weeks between his disappearance and the discovery of his body. The investigation remains open, a quiet but persistent search for justice.

Anyone with information that could help solve this crime is urged to contact the Sûreté du Québec's Centrale de l’information criminelle at 1-800-659-4264.