Brett Thoms
Pontiac October 11, 2022
The search continues for Michael Scandiffio. Scandiffio, 57, has been missing since October 1 after he left Ladysmith Oktoberfest. He was supposed to be going in the direction of Otter Lake, traveling in a black 2017 Ford Escape vehicle with Ontario licence plate number BNXP701, according to a press release from Sûreté du Québec(SQ).
The press release also detailed the actions undertaken by SQ officers in the MRC Pontiac which include: ground searches, door-to-door canvassing, an air search conducted by a helicopter and the verification of surveillance videos.
Currently an SQ investigator on the case says that they have thoroughly searched the Otter Lake and Thorne areas and as of now have no leads. Any further helicopter searches or dive teams to search the lakes in the area would require some indication that he or his vehicle are still in the area.
The SQ encourages hunters and those who are out in the bush to keep an eye out for any signs of Scandiffio and encourages anyone who sees his vehicle to call 911. Investigators are still hopeful and urge anyone with possible information on his or his vehicle’s wearabouts, regardless of how small, to contact them.
Scandiffio has been going to the cottage he jointly owns with his sister on Clarke Lake in Otter Lake since 1981, according to a family member who doesn’t wish to be named.
The family member said that Scandiffio left Oktoberfest at 8:30 p.m on the night of his disappearance to take sausages back to his son who was at his cottage in Otter Lake, which was 15 minutes away. He told his companions he was attending Oktoberfest with that he would return to pick them up at 10:30 p.m. When he didn’t arrive back in Ladysmith, the cottage was called and it was discovered that he never arrived there.
According to the family member, Scandiffio only had $20 in his pocket, no wallet, a nearly dead phone and not much gas in the tank of his vehicle. An SQ investigator believes he may have been able to travel between 60 and 80 kilometres from Ladysmith, though that is just an estimate.
He would have driven north up Highway 303 and then turned left on to Stephens road in order to return to his cottage. His family member says that he was the designated driver and therefore not drinking that night.
The family believes the most likely thing that happened is that he swerved off the road somewhere between Ladysmith and his cottage.
The family wants locals to help with the search but emphasized that any effort should be done so with safety in mind.
Scandiffio is the father of two sons, one who is 14 and the other who is 17.
Kate Malloy, editor of The Hill Times, recalls a period in the 1990s when Mike Scandiffio worked as the newspaper’s deputy-editor.
“Mike’s a really talented, well-read, and smart guy, and just a really lovely person. He broke lots of stories when he was at The Hill Times because he knew how to dig and to get people to open up. He’s a great guy,” she told THE EQUITY.
Following his work at The Hill Times, Malloy says Scandiffio went to work for CTV on the Hill and later as a senior communications adviser within the federal public service.
Right now the family member emphasised that Scandiffio is a human being who is lost and doesn’t want the search efforts to lose momentum.
If you have any information that could help find him it can be communicated, confidentially, to the Criminal Information Center of the Sûreté du Québec at 1-800-659-4264.
With files from Charles Dickson
