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| An altered image of what David Fortin might look like now |
There's a reward from Sun Youth on the table - or at least there was one and likely still is- for the return of David Fortin, who disappeared on February 10, 2009 from Alma at age 14.
Coolopolis has received a credible a tip that Fortin is the Montreal area, living the lifestyle of a transvestite.
The claim came from a woman who said that she met with the young man who told her that he was working as a drag queen performer at Mado's on Ste. Catherine St. near Amherst.
He apparently begged her not to tell anybody.
I dropped into Mado's on Friday night and hung around and watched a few dolled-up mime performances, showed his picture to some staffers but all said they'd never seen him or the photo.
A ramped up search, specifically targeting the transvestite milieu here and elsewhere, could possibly bear fruit.
Fortin - assuming he is still alive - would be an adult now, so there's no reason for him to fear getting sent back to live in Alma where he was apparently badly bullied before his disappearance.
So sharing information concerning his whereabouts would not endanger him in any way and could bring great relief to his family.
It's possible that Fortin might be staying in hiding because he fears exposing those who protected him to charges of harbouring a runaway, or something to that effect, but that's just speculation. Nonetheless it could be useful if authorities would issue a sort of an unofficial advance pardon to anybody who helped Fortin while he was still a minor.