Julie Surprenant
Case reference: 2012020141
Missing since: November 15, 1999
Missing from: Terrebonne, QC
Date of Birth: March 31, 1983
Age at disappearance: 16 yrs
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
Eye color: Brown
Hair: Brown, Curly
Height: 157 cms / 5ft 2in
Weight: 45 kgs / 99 lbs
Complexion: Light/Fair
Julie was last seen wearing: A floral skirt with a blue petticoat, navy blue socks over black tights, a blue scarf with a fish pattern, a green wool jacket and a dark brown leather coat. She was also carrying a black canvas backpack on which she had drawn a peace symbol.
Notable: Julie has a tattoo of a dragon on her buttocks the size of a quarter.
Details: On the evening of Monday, November 15, 1999, Julie told her father she would be spending a majority of her evening at the youth community center near the corner of Hauteville and Côte Boisée streets. This was a regular occurrence for her. The center was located next to the bus stop for the route she always took home or to work. At the time of her disappearance, Julie was a member of her school’s improv-comedy troupe. She also worked as a gift wrapper for the holidays at the Galleries Terrebonne shopping center. She lived with her father, who had recently separated from her mother and moved into the neighborhood.
Julie left the youth center at 8:30pm with a friend before boarding the bus to her house. Her friend got off the bus at the shopping center stop, and recalled Julie was sitting at the front next to the driver. The bus driver recalled chatting with her for the rest of the bus ride, and noticed a man standing in the bus shelter at the stop. He asked him whether he was going to get on the bus and the man replied he was not.
The following morning was when Julie’s father, Michael realized that she did not come home. He checked their answering machine, called her high school, and called her boyfriend to see if he knew where she was.
Her case was initially believed to be an abduction after learning about the man at the bus stop. They tried to identify him but were unsuccessful and Julie’s case became cold.
The family’s neighbor, Richard Bouillon, was a convicted sexual predator and became the prime suspect in Julie’s disappearance. He denied any involvement at first, but in 2001, he was confronted by a journalist regarding microscopic traces of blood found in his apartment during a police search. He made claims that an old roommate was responsible and left quickly. In his haste, Bouillon slammed his car door on the journalist’s arm.
In 2004, Michael Surprenant established the AFPAD (Association des familles de personnes assassinées ou disparues/Association of Families of Murdered or Missing Persons), an association dedicated to families of missing or murdered people to aid in the investigations of his daughter’s disappearance as well as those of others.
In 2011, it was revealed that Bouillon had made a “deathbed confession” to two hospital employees in Laval in 2006, admitting that he had murdered Julie after having previously denying any involvement in her disappearance. He claimed he had killed her, stuffed her body into a sports bag with some bricks, and had thrown it into the Rivière des Mille Îles across the way from a church in Terrebonne. He had also considered leaving it on the doorstep on the church. A coroner’s inquest re-opened her case in March 2012 after Bouillon’s shocking revelations concluded that Bouillon likely raped and killed her. Bouillon was never charged as law enforcement had insufficient evidence to do so.
In 2014, Julie’s family and friends created a monument in her memory. Despite a search of the river where Bouillon claimed to have dumped her body being completed in September 2011, Julie’s remains have not been located.
If you have information on Julie's case, please contact any of the following:
Sûreté du Québec: 1-800-659-4264
Reference Case#: TRB-991117-016
Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS(8477)
Online at: https://www.canadiancrimestoppers.org/tips
Crime Stoppers provides anonymous tipping
Send email to the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains at: canadasmissing-disparuscanada@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Sources: Canada’s Missing, MDIQ, CBC, Global News
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