ONSLOW MOUNTAIN - The woman who owns the Onslow Mountain property police have been searching for the past week said she didn't know Randy Mersereau.
"What I know, I've learned from media reports and Google since this happened," Vangie Beal said Tuesday in an email to the Truro Daily News.
The RCMP continues to comb her Peppard Drive property in connection with the disappearance of Mersereau, a former Hells Angel, who was last seen on Oct. 31, 1999.
"Obviously, I am the homeowner now, but was not the homeowner back in 1999," Beal said in the email.
At that time the registered owner was Stacey MacLeod. Beal moved to Onslow Mountain at the end of 2001.
Beal, who lives there with her two children, said she was "shocked" when police arrived last Wednesday night with a warrant to search the home and property.
The Mounties have been there ever since and said yesterday they anticipate being there until at least Friday.
"The kids and I cannot return to the property until they are done," Beal said in the email. "It's been very difficult being displaced with two kids and a dog for nearly a week. My family is tired. We just want to go home."
She said the RCMP has been helpful and respectful of how the search has impacted her and her family.
The Mounties said the purpose of the search is to glean information to advance the missing person investigation of Mersereau.
"Our members, who are at the scene, will remain there until all information is gleaned. They'll continue to do a detailed, diligent search in order to ensure that every single piece of information that can be obtained, is obtained," said Sgt. Brigdit Leger.
Police are mum on what, if anything, they found during their search. Because the missing person file is an open investigation, they will not say what they are looking for, if any of the property has been dug up, if the search has expanded outside of 74 Peppard Dr., if anyone else on the street has been removed from their home, what information led to the search being commenced or if anyone has been in custody in connection with Mersereau's disappearance during the past 10 days.
"Our goal is to maintain the integrity of the investigation. We certainly don't want to disclose anything which may have a negative impact on the investigation," Leger said.
Mersereau was 48 years old when he went missing six weeks after a bomb went off inside Auto Scout Car Sales on Jennifer Drive in Bible Hill. Seven people were injured in the blast, but Mersereau escaped relatively unscathed.
Prior to the bombing there was speculation Mersereau was living with a contract on his head.
Mersereau was a member of the Halifax chapter of the Hells Angels. He was acquitted of first-degree murder charges in the mid 1980s slayings of five members of the Quebec chapter.
A few days after the 1999 bombing, two members of the Hells Angels from Quebec were arrested crossing the Quebec-New Brunswick border with a loaded machine gun. It was rumoured the two men were on their way to Nova Scotia to finish the job the bomb failed to do.
