Nine years of disappearance

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I saw you for the last time in January 2008, at the funeral of our grandfather.
We were seated next to each other at the kitchen table.

I was busy preparing a souvenir video. You helped me.

It was more than three o’clock in the morning. You asked me why I was trying to finish a project too big for the little time I had before me.
I replied, “So that we can see Grandpa at least once as we knew him before the disease, before Alzheimer’s.”

If I saw you again today Marilyn, could I recognize you?

Tonight I look at pictures of you. What’s going on in your life right now? Are you even still alive?

These images are precious. I do not know if I will have others one day. I wish I had more.

I still do not know what happened on February 17, 2008.

If you have reasons for not coming back, I will understand them, but say something, please.
If a tragedy hit you and maybe shame stifles you, know that the past does not matter. Only the present and the future count.
If you are forced into silence, please know that I will continue to look for you, telling myself that even in the darkest hours some people clung to the hope that finally prevailed.

Even when something seems inevitable, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

I told you this sentence in February 2008, just a few days before you disappeared and I still believe in it today.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/family-of-marilyn-bergeron-missing-for-9-years-refuses-to-give-up-hope-1.3985929
http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/reward-tripled-for-information-about-quebec-woman-missing-since-2008
http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/reward-increased-for-woman-missing-since-2008-1.3288144

 

Press Release – Absences Movie Premiere: Another Step to Find Marilyn

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Montreal, Canada – August 27, 2013 – The family of Marilyn Bergeron, missing since February 17, 2008, will attend the world premiere of Absences, a film directed by award-winner Carole Laganière and produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Absences will screen during the 37th World Film Festival (WFF) in Montreal on Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
7:00 p.m. Reception at Ambassade Boris, located at 1641 St-Denis, Montréal (Québec), H2X 3K3. Phone: 514-508-5979
9:30 p.m. Screening of Absences at the Cineplex Odeon Latin Quarter, located at 350 Emery Street, Montreal (Quebec), H2X 1J1. Phone: 514-849-2244

Pina Arcamone, general director of the Missing Children Network and Andrée Champagne, coordinator of the Eastern Quebec Association of Families of Persons Assassinated or Disappeared (AFPAD), will accompany Marilyn’s family to the premiere. This special event gives hope to all those who keep Marilyn in their hearts, even after more than five years of disappearance.

Absences will also be released in theaters at the Montreal Excentris Cinema on September 20, 2013. A press screening will be held at Montreal Excentris Cinema on Wednesday, September 11th, at 10:00 a.m. The cinema is located at 3536, Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montréal (Québec), H2X 2V1.It was nearly a year ago that Nathalie Bergeron walked through the streets of the city of Toronto, searching for her sister Marilyn under the sensitive and discreet gaze of director Carole Laganière and her technical team. Marilyn’s family will experience the film Absences during the premiere, but the possibility that thousands of people on all continents may see the documentary provides a unique opportunity to revive a difficult quest that time unfortunately does not soothe. Therefore, the family will view this film with great emotion, gratitude, and renewed hope.

About the Film Absences
To view the trailer, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB1Cl-ywvEc. Please contact the NFB to obtain a copy of the English version.
Produced at the NFB by Colette Loumède, Absences is a documentary directed by Carole Laganière under Filmmakers in Residence program at the NFB.

Winner of the Best Canadian Documentary at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto in 2002 for The Fiancée of Life and in 2003 for The Moon and the Violin, Carole Laganière has established herself as a mature artist with a compassionate and insightful perspective. The filmmaker and the film’s protagonists will attend the world premiere at the WFF.
For further information or for interview requests, please contact Marie-Claude Lamoureux, NFB.
Phone: 514-283-9607
Mobile: 514-297-7192
Email: m.c.lamoureux@onf.ca
or the family of Marilyn Bergeron:
Phone: 1-800-840-1526
Email: contact@findmarilyn.comThank you again for your support,

The family of Marilyn Bergeron

Missing for Five Years, Open Letter to Marilyn

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Dear Marilyn,

For five years now you have not been a part of my life.
I hope that this is a personal choice, but doubt and anxiety sober me.
What happened to you?

The reality of your loss sinks in every day, but I cannot adapt to the worries.
It gnaws the heart… Responses that never come. Your voice only resonates in the past.

In the meantime, I’m still looking for you.

I wish I could express to you once more the love I have for you, which in turn carries the hope.
The words are missing, just as you are, and I miss you. Fortunately, I still have the memories and hope.

I have dreams that are light as wings,
That leave me their joy to the heart, in souvenir,
That always fly back forever
I have dreams that are like swallows.
– Translation of ”Rêves” by Albert Lozeau. (5-8)

Write me if you can (http://www.findmarilyn.com). If you cannot, know that I will not forget you.

Your sister who loves you,
Nathalie xxx

Details of the campaign to find Marilyn

With the continued support of the Missing Children’s Network organization and Mrs. Pina Arcamone, the new campaign will include the following initiatives.

1. From 13 to 21 February 2013

-5000 Posters distributed in 66 establishments Café Dépôt in the Province of Québec.

-Display on giant screens in Caisses Desjardins in the Province of Québec.

-Distribution of flyers in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, the Montréal neighborhood where Marilyn lived before her disappearance.

2. A pan-Canadian campaign will begin shortly in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

-On 19 February, the photo of Marilyn appeared on the recipe of the day by the producer of vegetables Manitoban Peak of the Market sent to 50,000 subscribers to its newsletter.

-Rogers and CIBC Bank will proceed to print Marilyn’s photo on the envelope containing the monthly invoice to their customers.

3. Sun Youth has also extended its offer of a reward and will provide a sum of up to $ 10,000 to anyone who would provide information needed to find the young woman.

4. Thank you to a special police officer in the Montreal area that continues to send information to Marilyn to thousands of colleagues, community organizations, etc..

Thanks to initiatives and efforts of Missing Children’s Network, AFPAD, Sun Youth, friends and colleagues of the family of Marilyn Bergeron, nearly a million people will see the photo of Marilyn across the country.

5th Anniversary of Marilyn’s disappearance: The Main Points

Here is the list of events or documents related to the 5th anniversary of Marilyn’s disappearance.

1. Invitation to a press conference by the Missing Children’s Network and the Québec City Police Department.

2. Press Conference on February 14, 2013 by Mrs. Andrée Béchard (Marilyn’s mother), Pina Arcamone (Executive Director of Missing Children’s Network) and Catherine Viel (Spokesman of the Québec City Police Department).

3. Press release by the Missing Children’s Network “A Widespread Operation to Locate Marilyn Bergeron Missing Since 2008“.

4. The details of the new campaign to find Marilyn.

5. Message by Marilyn’s parents on February 13th, 2013.

6. Missing for Five Years, Open Letter to Marilyn, on February 18th, 2013.

7. Message from Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu.

8. The article or articles recently published in the media can be found in the Press section.

Message from Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu

To the Bergeron family,

Five years later and still no answer… There is no worse pain for a mother, father, or sister than to remain without any news of their loved ones who disappeared.  On this day, we all think about Marilyn. I’m wholeheartedly with you and I pray that she will be found alive.

To all of the families who live with the disappearance of a relative, keep your hope alive and do not ever give up.

One day you will have an answer.