The 68-year-old has lived in Moncton for 50 years, in the same house for 48 years. He has five children and six grandchildren, all boys. She spent her life working with children through various roles, including as a social worker and resource teacher. The retiree was hoping to do some volunteer work at her grandchildren’s school this year. As she has done many times in her life working in this field, she headed to the police station for a background check. That was in April. Four months later, he still doesn’t have a clean background check and has no idea when or if he will. Leger-Cormier tried five times to scan her fingerprints. The first three times were at the Codiac RCMP station, the last two times at a crime lab in Moncton. He has tried creams, alcohols and even the product used to remove fingerprints from the skin of the dead. “They even tried to hold my hands and do it for me, but nothing came out. They couldn’t see fingerprints on my fingers.”
Second Andrée Leger-Cormier
Why does Leger-Cormier really need to scan her fingerprints? Someone with her name and date of birth has a criminal record, and without her fingerprints, it cannot be proven that Leger-Cormier is not the same person. The RCMP, who were not available for an interview ahead of publication, have not told Leger-Cormier much about this mysterious criminal, including what crime he committed. This spring wasn’t the first time he’d heard about it. Leger-Cormier also had to undergo a police check in 2021, but because her fingerprints were good then, she could prove that she was not the same Andrée Leger-Cormier who had committed a crime. That’s not happening now. She cannot use her fingerprint evidence from 2021 as it is destroyed after three months. The appearance of a second, less law-abiding Andrée left Leger-Cormier feeling even more confused. If it is a stolen identity, then there should be a clue in her finances. But Leger-Cormier does not bank online and her bank has not alerted her to any suspicious purchases or withdrawals. Additionally, since Leger-Cormier’s job often required her to receive police checks, she knows that the other Andrée Leger-Cormier has only emerged in recent years. “I’ve lived in the same place,” Leger-Cormier said. “I’ve had the same phone number for as long as I’ve lived here. So it’s kind of weird.” Andrée Leger-Cormier, 68, tried five times to be fingerprinted in Moncton for a police check. (Provided by Andrée Leger-Cormier) She wonders if this is a computer glitch with the RCMP — Leger-Cormier has also had to scan many people herself to check them for work, often putting her name on forms sent to police. Could there have been a mix-up? Or maybe it was a problem with her name — it’s French and has an accent on the first “e” in Andrée. Did the other Leger-Cormier not spell her first name with an accent? “[The RCMP] he said we don’t use those on our computer when we send the police check,” Cormier said. All her information has been sent to the RCMP in Ottawa, she added, but that was two weeks ago and she still hasn’t heard back. At a loss, Leger-Cormier decided to share her story in hopes that someone, somewhere, might provide some answers. “They call me this special person, but I don’t find it that special, really. You know, at first it really bothered me. I thought, oh my god, I feel like a criminal, like I’m being treated like I’m a criminal, but I’m not.”
The lost elasticity can make fingerprinting more difficult
Nicole Novroski, an assistant professor in the University of Toronto’s forensic science program, specializes in forensic biology and genetics, which focuses on the DNA involved in a forensic investigation. He said that over the course of a person’s life, the elasticity in the skin can decline, making fingerprinting much more difficult. A job that degrades the skin could also damage fingerprints. “It’s because you have a very labor-intensive position, or you’re constantly handling paper, or you’re constantly working with toxic or very harsh chemicals that really remove the main features of the fingerprint in that top layer of skin,” he said. he said. Nowroski has been fingerprinted many times because of her line of work and pointed out that digital fingerprinting technology is more successful than using ink. With time and care, he added, fingerprints can heal and come back. “Barring a really harsh chemical to physically remove them, her fingerprints are probably still there. You just need to find a way to pull them off the skin and onto a viable surface.”
