Ottawa residents who regularly make the drive down Highway 401 toward Cornwall are being asked to pay close attention to newly released surveillance footage tied to a years-old missing persons case. Ontario police have shared video showing the last known movements of Paul Bellemore, a Cornwall man who vanished four years ago, in hopes that someone along the busy Eastern Ontario corridor recognizes him or recalls seeing him around the time he disappeared.
What the footage shows
Investigators say the surveillance video captures Bellemore's final documented movements before he was reported missing in 2022. Police have not released the exact contents of the footage publicly beyond confirming it shows him in the period leading up to his disappearance, but they're hoping the renewed attention jars loose new tips from the public. Cold cases like this one often stall not from a lack of effort, but from a lack of fresh information — and police are banking on the footage giving the investigation new legs.
Why this matters to Ottawa
Cornwall sits roughly two hours southeast of Ottawa along Highway 401, making it a familiar stretch of road for Ottawa residents who commute to Montreal, visit family in the St. Lawrence Seaway towns, or pass through on road trips east. The Ottawa Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police's Eastern Region frequently coordinate on cases that cross jurisdictional lines in this corridor, since missing persons cases don't respect municipal boundaries. Anyone in the Ottawa area who was travelling through or near Cornwall around the time Bellemore went missing in 2022 is being urged to think back and come forward, even with details that might seem minor.
The ongoing investigation
Four years without answers is a long time for any family, and police say the case remains active. Releasing footage publicly, rather than keeping it strictly for internal investigative use, is often a last-resort tactic meant to widen the net of potential witnesses — a sign investigators believe someone out there holds a missing piece of the puzzle. For a region like Eastern Ontario, where Ottawa serves as the largest urban hub, cases like this tend to ripple outward: friends, coworkers, or acquaintances with ties to the capital may have crossed paths with Bellemore without realizing the significance at the time.
What to do if you have information
Anyone with information about Paul Bellemore's whereabouts or the events surrounding his 2022 disappearance is asked to contact Ontario police directly. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers. Given how many Ottawa residents pass through Cornwall regularly, police say even seemingly unremarkable details from that stretch of highway could prove significant.
Source: Global News Ottawa
