OPP say they have charged Anthony Ringel with first-degree murder in the case of Christine Harron.
Harron, at the time a 15-year-old, was reported missing after she left her Hanover home heading for high school in May 1993.
She didn’t make it to school that day, and she was never seen again. OPP joined the investigation in 1999, but Harron’s body was never found.
Ringel, who lives just north of Hanover in Chesley, was previously charged with first-degree murder in 2004 and spent 22 months in custody, but the charges were stayed two years later before the case came to trial.
A judge ruled police hadn’t properly handled the investigation and interviews, and without the evidence ruled inadmissible, the Crown didn’t believe they had a case against Ringel.
At a Thursday afternoon news conference in Walkerton, OPP said the case was reopened in 2010, and further investigation has provided sufficient evidence to once again charge Ringel.
Police also plan to return to the search for Harron’s remains.
“There will be another search. We do not have her body yet,” said Det. Insp. Chris Gilpin.
Family members say they’re cautiously optimistic about the news.
“I’m hoping that the evidence is strong enough that he can be convicted this time and off the streets so everybody else is safe,” said Mary Ann Russwurm, Harron’s mother.
Ringel, 44, made a brief court appearance Thursday afternoon. He was remanded into custody, and will next appear via a video link on Monday.
With files from The Canadian Press
