‘We’ve got to get them home’; Organization continues search for missing London Ont. women

An organization who has assisted in locating 40 missing people since 2018, has its sights set on the Thames River near Cavendish Park in London, Ont.

‘Please Bring Me Home’ (PBMH) executive director Nick Oldrieve has come from Owen Sound to help try to find the remains of missing women Kathryn Bordato and Shelley Desrochers.

“The alleged perpetrator of Kathryn’s disappearance and likely murder had openly stated that he had dropped Katherine off at this park,” said Oldrieve.

“That was the last time she was seen. There’s no evidence of her whereabouts after that. We have reason to believe that this is where he had dumped Katherine’s body somewhere in Cavendish Park and more likely down towards the river.”

Volunteers with PBMH worked the river looking for evidence of remains, clothing or anything that could be tied to Bordato (who went missing in 2009) and Desrochers (missing since 2016).

The group was looking for Shelley Desrochers (L) and Kathryn Bordato (R) (Source: London Police Service/Please Bring Me Home)

London police have stated that Ronald Kevin Fangrad was dating Bordato, a 44-year-old mother of two. They say she was last seen around Riverside Drive and Wharncliffe Road.

Fangrad had ties to both women who lived “high risk lifestyles” in the sex trade.

“Ronald, he’s now deceased, and he was dating Katherine at the time that she went missing,” said Oldrieve.

The organization ‘Please Bring Me Home’ is putting up posters of Ronald Kevin Fangrad who is believed to have connections to both missing women Shelley Desrochers and Kathryn Bordato. Fangrad died in 2020. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

“Shelley had last logged on to her social networks on his computer around the time she went missing. And that was the last evidence we have of her as well, so there is an obvious connection between the two. Is it just all coincidence? I really don’t think so. I think he more likely is, involved in both of their disappearances.”

Seven volunteers joined Oldrieve Saturday in the search which started under the bridge at Wharncliffe Rd. and Riverside drive.

Among them was Roberta Kilbourne.

“I’m the lead investigator because I’ve known Shelley since the age of 12,” said Kilbourne. “I know Shelley and Kathryn personally because I worked for Children’s Aid Society at that time. Shelley used to hang out in this area, and Katherine was last seen here supposedly.”

Kilbourne said she was in contact with Desrochers through the years, and was devastated when she saw the billboard of Shelley on Hamilton Road in 2017.

“We’ve got to get them home,” said Kilbourne. “I’ll never stop until we get them home.”

The teams split up on the north and south side of the Thames, often communicating with wireless radios.

Nick Oldrieve, executive director of search organization ‘Please Bring Me Home’ communicates via radio with one of his team members (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

They are hoping to have the same result as earlier this year when they found Eric Spencer in Georgian Bay after he was missing for five-and-a-half years.

“The hope is that we locate human remains today that end up being Shelley or Kathryn,” said Oldrieve.

“If we locate human remains, it’s somebody’s, so someone’s going to be able to go home. Even if we clear this riverside, that’s still progress for us. That means that we searched it and there was nothing here and it narrows down the locations but if we find them, it’s even better.”