Kriti Mehrotra
While there’s no denying missing person cases are arguably the most haunting owing to the unanswered questions always surrounding them, they are a lot worse for those connected to them. This much has actually even been evidenced in Paramount+’s ‘Never Seen Again,’ a thorough true crime anthology documentary series that truly lives up to its title in every way conceivable. Its season 5 episode 9 ‘Shelley Desrochers & Kathryn Bordato – Silent Screams’ is thus no different either — so now, if you simply wish to learn more about this particular matter, here’s what we know.
Shelley Desrochers and Kathryn Bordato Disappeared Seven Years Apart
It was back when Shelley and Kathryn were mere youngsters that they fell into the dark side of the road for two very different reasons, leading them down a path of addiction and pain. The truth is the latter was merely 9 years old when she began smoking marijuana upon being handed the same by her abusive and alcoholic father, only for her to repeatedly turn to it as a form of solace. However, as she grew older and her addiction grew too, she found herself dabbling in sex work too since it gave her quick money as well as often easy access to the substances she required.
Kathryn did purposefully get pregnant at the age of 22 in the hopes the responsibility of a child would guide her towards sobriety, yet she couldn’t really achieve the goal even when she welcomed her second. Though that’s not to say she was a bad mom; in fact, according to her kids Erin and Zachary, she was the best possible mother she could be considering her means as well as her lack of support system. They might not have had everything growing up, but they had their mother, her affection, her care, her kindness, and her willingness to provide her with the best, helping them thrive.
Therefore, of course, when Kathryn stopped responding to their texts and calls in July 2009, they knew something was wrong – they weren’t worried for a day or two since it wasn’t unusual for their mother to be busy with her clients as a sex worker, but by the time five days passed by, they knew something was wrong. Erin hence called the London, Ontario, authorities, only for them to not even register a missing persons report at first owing to the fact the former didn’t have a permanent address and led a “high risk” lifestyle. However, as months passed by and there was still no sign of her anywhere, they finally filed an official report in January 2010.
According to the aforementioned original, Kathryn was last seen on August 16 or 17, 2009, when her boyfriend, Ronald “Kevin” Fangrad, dropped her off near Cavendish Park to meet a friend. As for Shelley, she fell into the high-risk lifestyle of drugs as sex work owing to a tumultuous childhood in the foster care system, just for her entire world to turn upside down on January 2, 2016. She was reported officially recorded missing on January 21 despite her sister Laura trying to raise the alarms from the day she was last seen alive – on the 2nd in the area of Lorne Avenue and English Street. That’s especially because she’d received a Facebook message from a friend worried about Shelley, and when she went to her apartment, there was a paper stuck to the front door reading, “U want to do it?”
Shelley Desrochers and Kathryn Bordato Are Both Sadly Presumed Dead
Unfortunately, no. Despite the best efforts of officials and their loved ones alike, Shelley and Kathryn have never been found, leading many to believe they have long since passed away. According to reports, the theory of them having run away from home or overdosing was explored, yet it was quickly shut down owing to the way they both were attached to their families and not even their remains were recovered. Then there was the theory of them possibly being harmed at random by a client of theirs while they were working the streets, but even that was soon shut down once some evidence came to light.
It turns out Shelley had last logged in to Facebook from an apartment in the area of Lorne Avenue and English Street on the morning of January 2, 2016, and this connected her to Kathryn’s disappearance. Why? Well, the apartment belonged to none other than the latter’s once-boyfriend Ronald “Kevin” Fangard, who, according to both her kids, might’ve been a finance guy professionally but was extremely abusive personally. In fact, as per the episode, almost every sex worker in the local London area knew him and knew to stay away from him owing to his reported violent tendencies.
It was thus way too much of a coincidence that Kevin was the last man to see both Shelley and Kathryn alive, driving officials to soon question him – though he reportedly did not cooperate much. Then came his decision to relocate to a Toronto hotel for a while and lay low, especially once he got to know officials were surviving him, that is, until his nearly mid-March 2019 unrelated arrest. According to court records, he was arrested for an assault and sexual assault case dating back to the 1980s, just to go free the following day on bail before the local authorities issued a warning notice against him.
“The London Police Service is advising the public of a male who poses a high risk of violence towards women, specifically sex trade workers and intimate partners,” the March 14 police news release said. “Ronald “Kevin” Fangrad, 56 years, is male, Caucasian, 5’10”, 200 lbs, with blondish-grey hair, balding at the top, a full grey beard, brown eyes, and glasses. Fangrad has been assessed as a high risk for sexual violence and violence towards women.” But alas, before things could proceed further and he could be charged in connection to Shelley and Kathryn’s suspicious disappearances seven years apart, the 57-year-old died following a long battle with chronic illness in 2020. The lack of concrete evidence is the reason he has not even been post-humously identified as the prime suspect; he is only referred to as Kathryn’s then-boyfriend.
Read More: Jaliek Rainwalker: What Happened to Her? Is She Still Missing?
