TORONTO -- It has been two months since Aurora’s Helen Sedo was last seen—and her family still has no answers.
“I don’t know anything, and that’s part of what makes this so hard,” her son Michael Sedo told CTV News Toronto Monday.
One day earlier, York Regional Police said they believed the 61-year-old was dead, and that they had arrested and charged her husband John Sedo in connection with her murder.
“I think I went catatonic for a few minutes there. I still can’t really process the implications of it all. Honestly, shock doesn’t do it justice,” Michael Sedo said.
Helen Sedo’s daughter-in-law Brittney, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, said she’s in a state of disbelief.
“If the accusations are true, it’s not what I know of the people in the situation.”
Helen Sedo was last seen driving away from her house late in the evening of July 29. Her son says he’d been trying to reach both of his parents that day.
“I called her for advice and she didn’t pick up, which was not entirely unusual. Then I called my dad and he didn’t answer either. I tried a couple more times but I couldn’t get in touch with either of them.”
At that point, the 30-year-old said he started to get worried. His father, however, called the next day.
“(He) told me that something had happened and that she took off. So the next two months of my life were entirely based on that assumption. I don’t know what’s true anymore.”
Worried family took to social media, posted flyers and searched parking lots for Helen Sedo’s 2012 Acura RDX.
But on Sept. 23, John Sedo was taken into police custody. On Monday, York Regional Police issued photos of the 61-year-old and asking the public to contact them if they’d seen the Aurora man around the date his wife disappeared.
“I guess some small part of me kind of suspected early on that I might not see her again for a whole pile of reasons,” her son said. “I never expected anything like this, though.”
Her family says Helen Sedo was semi-retired and spent her time cooking, gardening, and doing freelance work as a project manager. They describe her as capable, driven, family-oriented and kind.
“If you could have someone in your corner, you could have someone who had your back, you were lucky if it was Helen, because even if she didn’t always agree with your point of view, she still empathized with your feelings,” Brittney said.
And right now, her family says it is “painfully hard” to accept that she is gone, especially given the fact her body has not been recovered.
“I have to know what happened before I can direct my anger in the right place,” Michael Sedo said. “I’m angry that my mom’s not here right now. You know, I’m angry that my dad’s not here right now too. And I don’t know who to be angry at for that.”
For those who loved the Aurora couple, the grief is both difficult and complex to process.
“They were just both really good people, and, you know, this is all just very tragic,” said Brittney.
A grief, they say, that’s compounded by the fact they still don’t know what actually happened to Helen Sedo.
