Caledon, Ontario — It's been over 40 years since Eric Larsfolk and McCormick Jr. were reported missing.
Loyd Larsfolk reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet. He digs into a slot with his aged thumb and slides out a folded piece of paper. Creased and cracked from age, the paper symbolizes his life for the past 30 years. A photo of his son Eric is on it, taken the day he won a bicycle from Dairy Queen. Below the photo is the toll-free number for Child Find and a description of what his then 14-year-old son was wearing the day he vanished – literally, it seems to Larsfolk – off the face of the Earth.
The 80-year-old father of four holds onto the ripped card as a constant reminder of his desire to find his youngest son. Eric and John McCormick Jr. were last seen on the McCormick family farm on Horseshoe Hill Road on August 24, 1981 driving a field car.
Their whereabouts to this day, dead or alive, is unknown.
Sitting in a chair in his bachelor apartment in downtown Brampton, Larsfolk is visibly tired. For three decades he has held onto hope one day his son, a dedicated member of Scouts Canada who dreamt of owning his own business, might turn up. There is only the tiniest glimmer of hope Eric is alive, and Larsfolk understands the chance is very little.
"I just want to know what happened to my son before I die," he said, a heavy, tired sigh rustling through his entire body. Times were tough for the Larsfolk family in 1981. The family lived in Fort Erie, Ont., and ran a greenhouse business. It paid the bills, said Larsfolk, and he worked hard to keep putting food on the table. Eric put in a lot of time at the greenhouse, but also many afternoons on the Niagara River casting his fishing line.
"He used to catch fish and sell them to men who were at the racetrack there, so it would look like they were fishing instead of at the track," he said, adding a lot of American businessmen used to cross the border to go to the track, telling their wives various tall tales. "He was a really smart boy."
Eric wanted to take over the business one day, but things just got too difficult financially, along with constant battles with the town over re-zoning issues. The Larsfolks' were eventually forced to close their business.
Larsfolk and his family picked up their lives and moved to a farmhouse on Horseshoe Hill Road near the end of July, 1981. He found work in Brampton and told his wife Beverly and the kids to find a house they liked.
McCormick's Vital Statistics
Date of Birth: February 26, 1966.
Age at Time of Disappearance: 15 years old.
Height and Weight: 5'4"; 95 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White male. Blonde hair; blue eyes. McCormick is right-handed, has freckles on his face and has a thin build.
Dentals: His upper teeth are straight and the lower teeth slightly crowded.
If you have any information concerning Eric and McCormick's case, please contact Caledon Provincial Police Department at 905-584-2241.
