In the quiet region of Northern Ontario, two heartbroken families have been forced into a desperate act. Unable to rely on the police any longer, they have contracted a private investigator. Their aim: to find a certain truck driver implicated in a fatal collision and subsequently charged, who had cunningly eluded a court appearance last year.
The fateful event unfolded on a seemingly ordinary day in April 2022. Christina Osmond, a 21-year-old expectant mother, was a passenger in a vehicle that faced a horrific collision with a commercial truck. The accident resulted in the tragic loss of Osmond and her unborn baby. A second expectant mother, Brooke (surname undisclosed), who was also travelling in the stricken vehicle, narrowly survived but unfortunately lost her unborn child.
The perpetrator of this tragedy was Richard Ouellette, a 68-year-old driver hailing from Dorval, Quebec, who was behind the wheel of the lethal commercial vehicle. He has been charged with the dangerous acts of driving that caused death and bodily harm. His negligence transformed an ordinary intersection of Highway 11 and Highway 65 in Temiskaming Shores into a gruesome scene of despair.
“I keep reliving that shattering day,” reflects Caroline, Osmond’s distraught mother. “The lingering sadness and painful memories ceaselessly haunt me. I reckon no grandparent should have to encounter their grandchild for the first sorry time in a funeral home.”
After the collision, Brooke was hospitalized for about a month, during which she bravely battled for survival from a medically induced coma in the intensive care unit. Her unborn child, Grace, could not withstand the ordeal and was claimed by the tragic event before she had a chance to grace the world.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Ouellette, who did not appear in court as he was required in August 2022. The warrant, active across all Canada, empowers any police agency to apprehend Ouellette should they locate him. Yet, Ouellette remains elusive. As a result, the grieving families have hired a private investigator to expedite the hunt. Despite a promising lead locating Ouellette in Manitoba, the fugitive managed to escape once more.
For the tormented families, justice remains out of reach. Brooke’s physical, emotional, and financial struggles continue unabated, as do the profound sorrow and irreparable loss her mother and Caroline bear. Amid this bleak and pain-filled landscape, both mothers are still able to confront the world, generously sharing their grief in the hope of saving others from the same anguish while tirelessly seeking justice for the daughters and grandchildren they have lost.
In an open letter, Caroline heartbreakingly articulates her yearnings, expressing her longing for the cherished moments she has been cruelly denied with her daughter and grandson. In addition, she implores the provincial government to address road safety in the area, a plea echoed across communities in despair.
Caroline’s outcry rings clear, “Christina, my beautiful daughter…Colton my beautiful grandson… you deserved so much better than this tragic end”. This grim story is a sombre reminder that the struggle for justice and accountability continues, even as the victims’ echoes of grief reverberate through the stands of Northern Ontario.
