MISSING: Christine Ziomkiewicz - 06/23/78 - Kingston, ON
By: S.M.Last Updated: 07/20/20
Source: Queen’s Journal
Christine Ann Ziomkiewicz
Missing since: June 23, 1978Kingston, OntarioAge at disappearance: 27Christine Ziomkiewicz had an ordinary Friday evening on June 23, 1978.
The 27-year-old Brock University graduate was a lab technician at Queen's University, in the Physiology Department inside Abramsky Hall - a neo-Georgian building on the corner of Arch and Deacon Streets. After work, she visited the Kingston Centre, a now-demolished indoor mall in what used to be the city’s west end, and one of two main transfer points for all of Kingston Transit. She bought a new sweater before returning to her downtown apartment.
Christine lived at 200 Park Street - less than 1 km from the mall, or about a 10 minute walk - in the building’s basement apartment. She arrived at 7 p.m. and chatted to a neighbour briefly in front of her door. The neighbour noticed she had a bag of groceries tucked under her arm.
When the conversation ended, Ziomkiewicz went inside her apartment and shut the door. She was never seen again.
200 Park Street in Kingston, ON. Google Maps.
Over the next few days, Ziomkiewicz had missed her usual weekend visit with her parents, and hadn’t called into work. On June 27, 1978 her parents called police to report her missing. Four days had passed since she was last seen, and her vehicle was still in the apartment building’s parking lot.
Her apartment was was searched and investigators found no indication of a struggle, nor was there any sign she had left intentionally or planned to leave for any period of time. The only thing missing was her envelope-style brown leather purse.
Ziomkiewicz was known to have a close-knit group of friends, and was well-liked by her colleagues. She was described as conscientious, quiet, pretty, outgoing, reliable and socially active. She dated, but nothing suggests that she took risks.
Abaramsky Hall, where the Queen’s Physiology Department was located in 1978. Source: Queen’s Encyclopedia.
Although nobody in Ziomkiewicz's life knew her to be in a relationship at the time of her disappearance, her family hired a private investigator in the first year of her disappearance. The investigator uncovered evidence that Ziomkiewicz may have had a boyfriend or had started seeing someone about six to eight weeks before she vanished. She had called the man several times daily, most regularly at 10 a.m. Those calls extended through most of May and June.
No one in Christine’s life knew the man's identity. The private investigator concluded that Christine left her apartment on June 23rd with the man, but this information cannot be verified. Whoever he was, the man never came forward and has never been found.
Ziomkiewicz’s case received no major media coverage at the time. There was a brief article in The Kingston Whig-Standard on June 30, 1978, but her disappearance was not and has never been covered by mainstream media.
In 2018, Ziomkiewicz’s disappearance was one of nine cold cases investigated by the Kingston Police’s Cold Case Unit (CCU) - a task force formed in 2005 after the murder of Queen’s student Justin Schwieg at A.J.’s Hangar bar (now Ale House). The team spent a year going through Ziomkiewicz’s case file in search of potential leads to investigate. There were two leads in that year, but nothing new came of the investigation.
The challenge of Ziomkiewicz’s case is the lack of physical evidence and the period of time between her last known whereabouts and when she was reported missing. In the 42 years since she disappeared, witnesses have forgotten or passed away, and records have either been misplaced or were not been kept. The resources available to cold case investigators is limited. The passage of time has only deepened the loss Ziomkiewicz’s family feels, but they have remained steadfast in their initial belief that no matter what, she would not have walked out of her life.
If you have information call Kingston Police Cold Case Investigation Unit at:
613-549-4660
Agency Case Number: 93-2424Last seen: 200 Park Street, Kingston, Ontario
Physical Characteristics & Distinguishing Features:
Missing since: June 23, 1978
Year of birth: 1950
Age at disappearance: 27
Gender: Female
Bio group: White
Eye colour: Hazel
Hair: Brown, Short, Curly
Teeth: Good
Height: 160cm / 5 ft 3 in
Weight: 50 kg / 110 lbs
Build: Slender/Thin
Complexion: Light/Fair
Mark: Nose, Minor cosmetic rhinoplasty
Links & Sources:Abramsky Hall | Queen’s Encyclopedia
Queen’s University - Historic Streets of Queen’s
Last Updated: 07/20/20
04/24/20