Police say 2017 disappearance of Cape Breton woman being treated as a homicide

Police in Cape Breton say they are now treating the 2017 disappearance of Debbie Ann Hutchinson as a homicide, and they’re still looking for information from the public to help the investigation.

In a statement Tuesday, the Cape Breton Regional Police said investigators believe there are people who would have seen Hutchinson driving in Sydney, N.S., on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017.

Hutchinson’s 2005 white Kia Magentis is believed to have been driving around Upper Prince Street, Reeves Street or Cossitt Heights Drive before it was set on fire in a wooded area in Cossitt Heights.

Family reported Hutchinson missing to police on April 24, 2017 after not being able to reach her for several days. She was last seen at a Sydney business on April 15, and her car was seen driving the morning of April 16.

Hutchinson’s family have been pleading for years for help from the public in tracking down answers about the 59-year-old woman’s disappearance.

In April 2022, Hutchinson’s siblings told CTV News they were “heartbroken” by their sister’s disappearance and they’ve felt since the beginning of the investigation that something wasn’t right.

“You don't just burn your car and walk away. It doesn't happen like that,” Hutchinson’s twin sister Darlene McDonald said.

Hutchinson’s brother John Hutchinson said his sister’s dog was left behind along with groceries on the kitchen table when she went missing.

“She would never leave that dog in the house. That dog was her life, he went everywhere with her,” Hutchinson said.

“If she went in the car, the dog went in the car. So whatever happened to her in that house happened to her real quick.”

Hutchinson is described as five-foot-three, with brown eyes and graying hair, weighing about 95 pounds.

Police said they want to speak with anyone who was traveling in the Cossitt Heights area of Sydney between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on April 16, 2017.

Hutchinson’s Magentis had a “Giant Cape Breton 101.9” radio sticker in the bottom left corner of the rear windshield, a “Max FM 98.3” sticker in the bottom right corner of the rear windshield, and a red and white Kia sticker on the bottom right corner of the trunk.

Debbie Anne Hutchinson's Kia Magentis. (Cape Breton Regional Police)

Police are also asking for the public’s assistance to identify the drivers of four specific vehicles shown by video surveillance driving on Cossitt Heights Drive around the same time as Hutchinson’s vehicle. The vehicles are a black Ford Escape, a blue Ford Ranger, a green pick-up truck and a white pick-up truck with blue striping.