John Allore, ex-Montrealer who sought for decades to solve sister's murder, dies in bike crash
John Allore, a former Montrealer best known for his true-crime podcast Who Killed Theresa, died Thursday in North Carolina following a cycling accident.
"We are saddened to share that our Budget Director John Allore was tragically killed in a biking accident yesterday in Orange County. John was a dedicated public servant, a loving father of three daughters aNd a loyal friend", the city of Durham, N.C. said on Twitter.
Allore is best known for his relentless pursuit of solving the murder of his sister Theresa, who grew up in the West Island but went missing while attending Champlain College in Lennoxville in November 1978. Her decomposed body was found in April of 1979 near her dormitory. Police could never establish a cause of death, and suggested she might have suffered an overdose, although facts never established that claim, her brother said.
But her case was reignited in 2002 when her brother John Allore decided to follow a reporter friend who tried to connect the disappearance of Theresa with that of other women in the Eastern Townships who were murdered around that time. In CTV News interviews over the years, Allore said he constantly pushed the Quebec provincial police to reopen the investigation into his sister's death. Allore would routinely return to the scene where Theresa's body was found to search for new leads.
"You just kind of have to catch yourself because your heart is reaching a little bit, and your expectations are getting ahead of yourself," Allore told CTV News last year. He eventually wrote a book about his search for the truth with the help of investigative reporter Patricia Pearson.
"His family had long suspected that there was something fundamentally wrong with what the police had said," Pearson told CBC in 2020.
John Allore first launched his podcast, Who Killed Theresa, in 2017. The first few episodes focused on his sister, but it quickly evolved into other cold cases in Quebec and the rest of Canada, leading to new tips sent to police forces across the country.
But Allore constantly criticized the Surete du Quebec for not trying harder to follow new leads.
"The SQ's position is 'call us, email us information,' so it's a very passive approach," he told CTV News. "They're waiting for the phone to ring."
Allore was 60, and passed away before he got the answer he had been looking for his entire life.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
'I may have some nightmares:' Man survives being bitten by 2 sharks in Bahamas
A man who was bitten by two sharks in the Bahamas said Thursday he's 'thankful that I'm here' while sharing his story of survival.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.