Vannness family remains tormented
On a cold, rainy day in Belleville, Travis Vanness takes a break from work to do his sad annual duty.
Walking behind city hall, Vanness lights the first of several cigarettes, then begins answering questions about his father, Calvin Vanness, whom he and police believe was murdered in 2008.
The Ontario government offers a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever killed the 65-year-old father of four.
There have been searches, tips, and plenty of news reports but no arrests or charges. The release of new information has dwindled to a morsel every few years.
Travis, who’s wearing his father’s ring, speaks frankly and with a hint of resignation.
“I still think about it very frequently,” he said. “It doesn’t haunt me every second of every day like it did for the first few years.
“We had lots of hope,” he said, shrugging.
“There are people out there with information,” he said. “It’s very frustrating.”
Calvin“Buck”Vannesshadplanned leave his Belleville home to meet family March 26, 2008. It was the last his familyheardfromhim.Theyreported him missing March 31.
The next day, police found his car in a carpool parking lot on Gardiners Road/Highway 38 next to Highway Calvin Vanness 401 in northwestern Kingston.
The silvery grey, four-door 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix was parked facing Gardiners Road. Painted red and black flames decorated its hood and extended from the fenders toward the rear end of the car.
“Information has been received … that a person other than Mr. Vanness was operating his vehicle sometime between his disappearance and April 1” of that year, said Acting Sgt. Angie Atkinson of the Ontario Provincial Police Eastern Region headquarters in Smiths Falls.
She said it’s not a new detail but police went public with the information because they have yet to identify that person. Travis Vanness, son of missing man Calvin Vanness, sits on a bench behind city hall in Belleville on Friday. He and police believe his father was murdered in 2008; the family and police continue to hope someone will provide information leading to an arrest and conviction.
“As small as it seems to you, it may be that piece of the puzzle that is important for the investigators on this case,” Atkinson said.
Belleville Police opened the case and in April 2010 began a partnership with the OPP. The provincial force now heads the investigation, classed in 2011 as a homicide case.
Atkinson said detectives are “very certain he’s dead based on information they have received” but it isn’t clear when Vanness died.
Officers have made several searches for evidence but the grandfather’s body has never been found.
“There are certainly going to be persons of interest,” she said, adding she did not know if all remain alive. There have been no arrests. “The family at this stage of life deserves to have some closure,” said Atkinson. “It would be really nice for them to be able to lay Mr. Vanness to rest.
“He was known to carry large sums of money and quantities of marijuana,” Atkinson said Friday. She stopped short of describing him as a drug dealer.
His son said news of his father’s involvement in drugs, first announced in 2011, wasn’t a surprise and he believes his father was the victim of “a robbery gone wrong.”
Vanness said he and his family have had to learn to deal with the loss and their unanswered questions. “It’s not getting easier. “It’s depressing. It’s as simple as that.”
“We don’t talk as much as we used to,” said Vanness, “because when we do, it’s usually the subject none of us enjoy.”
Asked whether he still hopes his father would be found, he replied, “I hope so. “I think it’s possible. “Some day when I’m old and grey I’ll get a phone call.”
He said the OPP have provided no further information to him in seven years, though he knows they haven’t abandoned the case. Atkinson said a full-time investigator remains assigned.
“I wish they would continue to pressure the people they think have information,” said Vanness. “Pressure them until the end of time.
“They’ve years.”
He said he’d like to ask those who know what happened to his father “how you sleep at night. “Please come forward. “Please.”
Tips may be made to the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477. Crime Stoppers does not use caller identification technology and callers to that service never have to provide their names or testify in court. They may, however, be eligible for a reward of as much as $2,000. tried very hard for