On January 1, 2018, 53-year-old André Blackburn disappeared from Jonquière, Quebec. Somewhere around the beginning of that new year, contact with André stopped. The people in his life would no longer hear from him, and years later, there is still no publicly known explanation for where he went or what happened to him.
André was born in 1964. At the time of his disappearance, he was approximately six feet tall and weighed around 179 pounds. He was described as having a medium build and fair complexion, with short brown hair and green eyes. His dental condition was recorded as good, and he had a distinctive scar on the left side of his neck—an identifying feature that could potentially be important if someone encountered him or if unidentified remains were ever compared with his case.
André was born in 1964. At the time of his disappearance, he was approximately six feet tall and weighed around 179 pounds. He was described as having a medium build to fair complexion, with short brown hair and green eyes. His dental condition was recorded as good, and he had a distinctive scar on the left side of his neck, an identifying feature that could potentially be important if someone encountered him or if unidentified remains were ever compared with his case.
Unfortunately, very little information about André’s final known movements has been released publicly.
Canada’s Missing lists his disappearance location simply as Jonquière. There is no specific street, residence, business or other location identified as the place where André was last seen. The public record also doesn’t explain who last saw or spoke with him, or what he was doing immediately before he disappeared.
Even the significance of January 1, 2018, isn’t explained in the publicly available information. It is listed as André’s disappearance date, but we don’t know whether that was the date of a confirmed sighting, a telephone conversation, a message or simply the last date investigators were ultimately able to associate with him.
There is also no clothing description listed for André.
No vehicle has been publicly associated with his disappearance, and there is no indication in the federal record whether he owned or regularly drove one. There is similarly no publicly released information concerning André’s employment, his living arrangements or whether he had mentioned plans to travel or leave Jonquière.
Those missing details make André’s case particularly difficult to reconstruct from the outside.
Jonquière is one of the boroughs that make up the city of Saguenay, situated in Quebec’s Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. André wasn’t disappearing from some isolated wilderness location. He was associated with an established urban community, yet the publicly available trail surrounding his disappearance is remarkably sparse.
At some point, André simply stopped being heard from. His disappearance was eventually reported to authorities in 2022, and an investigation was opened. The case is associated with Saguenay Public Security under police file number SAG-220907-022. Canada’s Missing lists the federal case reference as 2022044369.
What happened to André remains unknown.
One possibility in any adult missing-person investigation is that the person left voluntarily. Adults are legally entitled to leave their lives behind, relocate and discontinue contact with family or friends if they choose. But there is no public evidence demonstrating that André deliberately disappeared.
An accident is another possibility. Quebec contains enormous stretches of wilderness, waterways and remote terrain, and an accident away from populated areas can sometimes leave remarkably little evidence behind.
It is also possible that André died and has never been identified. Missing-person investigations can occasionally remain unresolved because unidentified human remains haven’t yet been connected to an existing missing-person case. And foul play cannot automatically be excluded.
However, there is currently no publicly released evidence indicating that André was the victim of a crime. There is no identified suspect, no reported crime scene and no public allegation that another person was responsible for his disappearance.
For that reason, all of these possibilities have to remain exactly that, possibilities. The frustrating part of André’s case is how few pieces of the puzzle have been made public.
Where was André last physically seen? Who was the last person known to speak with him? Was there activity on his bank accounts after January 1, 2018? Did his cellphone remain active? Did he have identification with him? Was he carrying money? Did he have access to transportation? Were any of his belongings left behind? Did he tell anyone about plans for the new year? And was there anything happening in André’s life that might explain why he suddenly stopped communicating?
Those answers may exist within the police investigation, but they haven’t been made publicly available.
There is another complication when researching André’s disappearance. Blackburn is a well-established surname in the Saguenay region, and there are records concerning several different men named André Blackburn. Some online search results lead to obituaries and records for men who are not this missing André.
That makes his identifying information especially important. The André Blackburn who disappeared from Jonquière was born in 1964. He was 53 years old when he vanished, approximately six feet tall and 179 pounds, with brown hair, green eyes and a scar on the left side of his neck. Nearly eight years have now passed since André disappeared.
If he were alive today, he would be in his early sixties. His appearance could have changed considerably. His hair may be greyer or thinner, his weight could be different and the natural effects of aging could make him look quite different from the photograph associated with his missing-person file.
But some things don’t change as easily. That scar on the left side of his neck remains one of the most useful identifying details available to the public. André’s disappearance doesn’t have the dramatic circumstances that often bring widespread attention to a missing-person case. There is no publicly known abandoned car, mysterious surveillance footage or final cryptic message.
Instead, there is simply a man who was there and then wasn’t.
Somewhere around January 1, 2018, André Blackburn disappeared from Jonquière. What happened after that remains a mystery.
Perhaps someone remembers seeing him around that time and never realized the significance of what they saw. Perhaps someone had a conversation with André that seemed completely ordinary then but would mean something very different now. Or perhaps someone knows something about his movements that has never reached investigators.
Until that missing piece is found, André remains absent from the people who knew him, and one fundamental question remains unanswered:
Where is André Blackburn?
If you have information on André‘s case, please contact any of the following:
Saguenay Public Security: 418-699-6000
Reference Case#: SAG-220907-022
Canada’s Missing Case reference: 2022044369
Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-TIPS(8477)
Online at: https://www.canadiancrimestoppers.org/submit-a-tip/submit-a-tip
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, Saguenay Public Security case information.
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