On March 17, 1978, Bonnie Thomas (née Cooper) drove with some friends to Calais, Maine for a St. Patrick’s day dance at the local Legion. She left alone later driving a red 1973 Volvo station wagon to return to Canada. At the border crossing, she hit the customs booth with her car causing minor damage and was last seen talking to a Customs Officer.

Thomas’s husband, Frank, reported her missing when he realized she had not returned home the next day.

Thomas’s car was found abandoned the next day on a logging road near St. Stephen at the St. Croix River.

Thomas was an employee at the Starkist Tuna Plant in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. She lived in a home with her husband, his foster brother, and his foster father.

Frank was reportedly an abusive spouse and had assaulted Thomas many times, often sending her to the hospital. When he reported her missing, he told police that she had left for work that morning but never made it, but it was before she would have started her shift (11 p.m. – 7 a.m.).