New death haunts aunt of Highway of Tears
victim
Business concerns and the Highway of Tears
discussed
Woman's remains found in park - Prince George
BC
Police reveal details of E-Pana investigation into 18 female unsolved
cases in northern B.C.
Project E-PANA - Aielah Saric Murder Investigation - Four Year
Anniversary Update
Olympic torch lights Highway of Tears in journey across B.C.
New
death haunts aunt of Highway of Tears victim
Tamara Chipman, 22, was last seen on Sept. 21, 2005, five kilometres
east of Prince Rupert. (CTV)
Date: Monday Oct. 11, 2010 6:16 PM PT
On what would have been her 27th birthday, the aunt of Tamara
Chipman says the discovery of a woman's body in Prince George is a
startling reminder that not enough is being done to catch men who
prey on women in B.C.'s north.
The human remains were found in a wooded area, not far from what's
been dubbed the Highway of Tears, where Chipman herself disappeared
a little more than five years ago.
"She left behind a little boy and it's Thanksgiving and it's also my
daughter's birthday so it's a day we'll never forget," Gladys Radek
told CTV News.
Eighteen women, including Chipman, have gone missing along the
Highway 16 corridor between Prince George and Prince Rupert.
Police are treating this latest discovery as suspicious. Condom
wrappers were found near the crime scene, a park investigators say
is used frequently by sex trade workers.
Police are expecting more answers on this suspicious death from
autopsy results. But Radek is convinced it's the work of multiple
killers who have managed to escape the law.
"There's lots of perpetrators up there. There's lots of ghosts in
the closets," she said.
Radek said she doesn't like how the women are characterized and
stereotyped as having high-risk behaviours, even if they are working
in the sex trade.
"As far as I'm concerned all women are vulnerable. All women are
guilty of high risk behaviour by walking down the street in this
country now," she said.
"They were put there for a reason. and that doesn't make them any
less of a person because of what they're doing."
On Friday, Prince George RCMP asked for public assistance to locate
two missing sex trade workers.
Thirty-five-year-old Cynthia Frances Maas and 23-year-old Natasha
Lynn Montgomery were last seen on September 10 and late August,
respectively.
Police say both women are known to have friends or family in another
area.
In 2006, the RCMP launched a special investigation into the
disappearances of women from the Highway of Tears.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Norma Reid
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101011/bc_chipman_body_connection_101011/20101011?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
for video
Business concerns and the Highway of Tears discussed
Corporate Administrator Robert Grodecki listened as Vicky Hill and
Catherine Clarke brought their concerns about the Highway of Tears
to the community meeting.
Monica Lamb-Yorski photo
Published: October 12, 2010 11:00 PM
“With a central station in the community at the police access centre
in the lower level of City Hall you guys could have access to the
video tapes,” Page suggested.
“Within minutes of a call you guys could view the tapes and make
arrests quicker.”
Killbery said Kelowna has video surveillance and he’s all for it,
but doesn’t think the City can afford it and there’s always going to
be protests from the community about privacy rights.
Councillor Kathy Bedard agreed. 10 years ago when council proposed
video surveillance when there were problems with bar crowds, there
was a huge push back from the community, she said.
“What happened is the owners got together and put spotlights and
more lighting around the area and that helped. People have a real
funny feeling about human rights. I understand the concern, but the
community said that video surveillance restricts rights,” Bedard
said.
Page said with advances in technology he thinks it’s worth looking
at again.
“I’ve heard there’s grant money out there for communities. Maybe we
could have a vote of some sort, although not enough people are
showing up for these meetings, so I wonder how many would show up to
vote.”
Killbery said another route is to amend existing bylaws. The
community of Nanaimo’s nuisance bylaw also includes things like
fighting.
“It doesn’t matter who the aggressor was. When we go there and
typically investigate who started the fight, and if there is going
to be enough evidence to criminally charge, whereas if you have the
nuisance bylaw they both get a ticket,” he explained.
After listening for a few minutes, lawyer Jenny Reid said that she
doesn’t think the police can do it all.
“A lot of their calls are not within their mandate. Picking up
drunks every night of the week is not necessarily the number one
safety issue, but that’s what they’re doing because there’s no one
else to do it. They are being stretched really thinly by doing
things that are not within their mandate of community policing,”
Reid said.
The community, she suggested, has a big role to play in pushing for
other resources that the community needs.
“Each community has some responsibility for itself to take care of
some of the things that are happening here,” Reid added.
Two people doing just that are Vicky Hill and Catherine Clarke who
said they had come to the meeting to ask about the Highway of Tears
sign.
“Money was set aside for it in 2006 and nothing’s happened yet,”
Clarke told Councillor Anna Ashley.
Ashley said council has discussed the sign and has wondered if the
money could be better spent on education.
“It’s not that we aren’t concerned, but we have been trying to
figure out what’s the best thing to do.”
Clarke said one of the things they’ve thought about is cell phone
reception between Prince Rupert and Terrace.
“Now that we have multiple cell phone carriers it’s more feasible
for the cost to be taken on by them than when we just had CityWest.
If we want to be using that $12,000 for something, can we not
essentially make a deal with the phone companies to pay the cost of
the towers and we’ll use the money to advertise,” Clarke said.
Hill’s mother was a victim on the Highway of Tears.
“I’m here for my mom. I’m her voice,” Hill said.
“It’s not a movie that’s going on. It’s reality. It’s an issue that
I can’t let go of.”
The next meeting in the series of public forums hosted by city
council and staff, and the last meeting scheduled for the fall
session will take place on November
Police to determine the
identity and cause of death of a woman's remains found by plain
clothes officers and a police dog in a wooded area just off Highway
16 in Prince George on Friday.
"Right now, it's
classified as a suspicious death," said Cpl. Dan Moskaluk of the
RCMP's South East and North District on Monday.
"We have to determine
identity as well as cause of death. Is this a homicide as defined as
the death at the hands of another? There's a million questions."
Moskaluk said the area
near L.C. Gunn Park, where the remains were found, is "frequented by
sex-trade workers" and was being patrolled and searched as part of
"attempts to further various missing persons' investigations" when
the dog and officers found the remains.
"We are dealing with
human remains with a degree of decomposition and not skeletal
remains," said Moskaluk. "We're hopeful an autopsy will be conducted
[today] or Wednesday to assist in determining cause of death as well
as identity."
Three women have gone
missing in Prince George in recent months, and police say two of the
women, Natasha Lynn Montgomery, 23, and Cynthia Frances Maas, 35,
were reported missing in late August and September, respectively.
"Both are known to be
involved in the sex trade," said Moskaluk.
Gladys Radek, organizer
of the annual Walk 4 Justice in support of women missing in
Vancouver and along Highway 16 -- the so-called Highway of Tears in
northern B.C. -- said the discovery of the woman's remains is
"worrisome and very concerning."
"There are three
different families affected by this and, of course, it brings back
memories for all the rest of the families and victims of the Highway
of Tears," she said.
The patrols that found
the remains were started several weeks ago as part of ongoing
investigations into missing persons in the area.
Police are asking anyone with information regarding this incident,
or any other outstanding missing persons, to contact the Prince
George RCMP at
250-861-3200
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting or
call Crime Stoppers at
1-800-222-8477
begin_of_the_skype_highlightingend_of_the_skype_highlighting.
jkeating@theprovince.com
© Copyright (c) The
Province
By LORI CULBERT, Vancouver Sun
November 5, 2010 5:03 PM
More than 400 DNA samples have recently
been collected in the Highway of Tears investigation as officers
continue to use new technology to identify suspects in the
high-profile case, in which most of the files are decades old.
Although no arrests have yet been made
in connection with the 18 girls and women who went missing or were
murdered along B.C.'s so-called Highway of Tears, the 75-member
E-Pana task force continues to search for answers, RCMP Staff Sgt.
Bruce Hulan said in an interview.
In the past 18 months, investigators
have collected the voluntary DNA samples to compare with evidence
left by suspects at the crime scenes and have made more than 16,000
inquiries as they pursue leads.
And in the last year — since The
Vancouver Sun published a five-part investigative series on the
Highway of Tears case — E-Pana has received 939 tips, said Hulan,
the head of the task force. (The names of all RCMP units in B.C.
begin with the E- prefix. Pana is a god in Inuit mythology who cares
for souls in the underworld until they are reincarnated.)
It has identified 160 new persons of
interest in 2010, bringing the total to more than 2,100 possible
suspects or witnesses identified in the cases.
Both the Highway of Tears and B.C.'s
other infamous missing women case — the disappearance of 64 women
from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside — have been making headlines,
with the launch of a provincial missing women inquiry and with the
federal government dedicating $10 million to the issue of missing
and murdered aboriginal women.
Many of the Highway of Tears cases are
historical and complex, such as that of Pamela Darlington, 19, who
was killed 37 years ago Sunday. The task force is releasing new
information that it hopes will jog the public's memory about her
mysterious murder.
E-Pana is examining 18 similar cases,
spanning from the 1969 murder of Levina Moody to the 2006 murder of
Aielah Saric Auger. All the victims were either last seen or found
dead along Highway 16 from Prince Rupert to Hinton, Alta., Highway
97 from Prince George to Kamloops; and Highway 5, including Merritt.
"The investigators on project E-Pana
have made significant progress in the past year," Hulan said in an
e-mail. "In many of our cases, we are looking for that piece of
evidence to further the investigation or provide us with clarity as
to what led to the individual's death."
Hulan is cautious about using the term
"serial killer," saying that can only be determined after any
arrests are made.
Police are appealing for the public's
help in the case of Darlington, whose body was found partly clothed
in the Thompson River at Pioneer Park in Kamloops Nov. 7, 1973. She
was severely beaten and the killer left bite marks on her skin.
About 6:30 the night before, Darlington
finished her shift at Gondola Pizza, where she had started working
four days earlier, and later returned to her apartment with her two
roommates.
At 9:30 p.m. Darlington hitchhiked alone
to a Kamloops bar, then called the David Thompson pub, and was last
seen around 11 p.m. walking to the back of the pub with a man
witnesses didn't recognize. He was five feet, 10 inches tall with
scruffy blond hair to just above his shoulder.
Several hours later, at 4:30 or 5 a.m.
on Nov. 7, 1973, a Canadian National train crew saw a car driven by
a man with scruffy blond hair try unsuccessfully to beat the train
to a crossing in Pioneer Park, not far from where Darlington's body
would be found later that day.
The car — a salmon pink or off-white
four-door 1956-1959 Chrysler — failed to beat the train to the next
crossing too. It stopped further down the road and the driver turned
its lights out.
Police in the 1970s followed up 150 tips
in the file, but to no avail. Modern-day investigators continue to
hunt for a suspect, and now are trying to track down and question 32
people because of their backgrounds or relationships with
Darlington, Linteau said.
Mel Weisgerber, one of the original
detectives who worked on the case, told The Sun last year that
investigators considered the possibility a serial killer was
responsible for the murder of Darlington and two other teens on the
Highway of Tears list: Gale Weys and Colleen MacMillen.
Missing women advocates argue that the
number of victims on the Highway of Tears list should be much
higher, but Hulan has argued that his task force is somewhat
hampered by budget constraints. He added this week that police
compare their 18 existing files to new homicides in B.C. for
similarities. E-Pana is also probing 16 unsolved sex crimes, many of
which bear similarities to the 18 murders.
lculbert@vancouversun.com
Police reveal details of E-Pana investigation into 18 female unsolved
cases in northern B.C.
By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun March 7, 2010
RCMP Staff Sgt. Bruce Hulan stands along the long row of "highway of
tears" documents, some that go back 40 years in Surrey.
Photograph by: Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
Here is the full exclusive Vancouver Sun interview with RCMP Staff-Sgt.
Bruce Hulan, the officer in charge of B.C.'s Unsolved Homicide Unit and
team commander of Project E-Pana, which is conducting homicide
investigations of 18 girls and women who disappeared or were found
murdered along major highways in northern B.C.
It is the first extensive media interview by police to explain Project
E-Pana, which began in the fall of 2005 when the Unsolved Homicide Unit
was tasked with viewing three homicides that the behavioural sciences
people, the profilers, had reviewed and found there was some
commonalities between the files.
Hulan: We reviewed the files with the view of whether we could identify
or say the homicides had been committed by the same person or whether
there was a reason to believe there were three separate killers.
There was rumour, speculation and media reports in the north suggesting
that a serial killer was responsible for these and other files.
So part of our mandate was to determine if there was a serial killer
responsible and also trying to identify investigative strategies to move
those three files forward.
The three files were Alishia Germaine, Roxanne Thiara and Ramona Wilson.
That was the birth of Project E-Pana, which used an Inuit word
describing the spirit goddess that looks after the souls just before
they go to heaven or were reincarnated. One of investigators our came up
with the name.
Q. What did the initial review tell you?
A. The review was a bit of a slow process, to say the least. We started
doing the review but very early into it we recognized that, if we are
looking for this serial killer, we'll have to broaden our scope and have
a look at other files, if they were out there.
So what we did, using ViCLAS [Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System] and
other databases we have, missing person records, and analyzing the
information contained in there, we recognized that we also had to look
at six other files. We've moved now into the spring of 2006.
They [the nine cases then on the list] were essentially from the road
from Prince Rupert to where Shelley Bacsu was found in Hinton, Alta.
We decided we couldn't review the files in a paper format. The size and
number of boxes of file material that we have, no person can keep
straight in their head - [for example] the name that appears in box
number one also appears in box 200.
So we decided we would load the files into our evidence and reports
database, which meant bringing the files to our officer here in Surrey,
scanning them into the database and doing all the work that went with
that.
We underestimated how big of a job that is, having never done it before,
I thought we could get it done in three months and it took close to a
year to load it in.
There were close to 200 boxes for the first nine [cases]. Just one
investigation was close to 100 [boxes] - Bacsu is a big file.
Once we were at the point we had three or four files loaded in, we had
teams of reviewers that we assigned files to begin the review with.
We identified three key points to include files: that the victim was
involved in a high-risk activity that would expose them to danger, being
hitchhiking or [involved in] street trade [prostitution]; our first
search was along Highway 16 and we had to decide how far we would go off
Highway 16, and we decided a mile; and, of course, that they were
female.
At the time, all were girls from the 17 to 20 range.
The one-mile limit was for both last seen or a body found.
The investigators were saying to us: Have you taken a look at this file
or this particular investigation? And we decided to do another search
for similar files, meeting the same criteria, but extending it down to
Highway 97 to Highway 5 ?- from Prince George down to Kamloops and the
Merritt area.
Q. Why that particular stretch?
A. We were trying to control, to a certain degree, the volume of files
we had. It was limited by resources, to a certain extent. We couldn't
look at the entire province, only because we don't have the resources
for this particular project to take on a significant number of files.
It's commonly referred to in the media as the Highway of Tears, but that
didn't come from us....Who came up with the term, I don't know....We
refer to it by the project name or the Highway 16 investigations, which
is where we started out.
Q. In 2007, when the list went from nine to 18, the new nine cases, they
chronologically came before the first nine. Is it because the older
cases take more time to look back at them or was it just a matter of
coincidence?
A. It was just coincidence that they were older. We expanded our
geographical search.
Q. Did you go through about 200 unsolved cases before you decided on the
18?
It was based on the number that the ViCLAS database would have searched
.... If there was a [homicide] investigation that was a mile and a half,
we certainly looked at that if it was within reasonable proximity. We
didn't discount it simply based on distance. And if there was one that
should be brought in, we made that assessment.
Our file review began in earnest in late 2006, with investigators
actually sitting at their computers reading the file, page by page. Our
goal was to be able to say that this file has been meticulously reviewed
and doesn't require another review.
You have to understand that these investigations, a number or a majority
have all been reviewed and they've been subjected to lengthy
investigations, then reviewed, then investigations conducted beyond that
review. So we're kind of going over work that's been done several times.
In February of '09, the review was completed and we then moved to the
investigative stage of the project.
What we did is we have 18 files - we can't investigate all at the same
time. We prioritized files based on the risk of losing evidence and the
potential threats to the public.
We have a staff right now of about 60 people. That is made up of
investigators and support staff and a number classified as temporary
civilian employees, who are hired on a contract basis to do a job -
retired members of the RCMP or Vancouver police and other police
departments as well.
I'm a little bit reluctant to talk about how many files we're actively
investigating. I think it's fair to say were focusing on several on a
priority basis, and there's also a smaller group that we're conducting
the necessary inquiries right now, with the aim of moving them up to the
priority stage as we progress.
Q. A lot of the cases are pretty old. Are they solvable?
A. Some them we may be able to determine what happened to provide a bit
of closure to the families. Is it likely we will be able to charge on
all 18 of them? I'm doubtful about that.
Q. Is it because of the passage of time? Do you believe some of the
people who committed these crimes are dead?
A. That's certainly a concern. We don't know. You know, we haven't
looked at them to the point where we can categorically say that Joe
Smith was responsible for this homicide and, in our opinion, Joe Smith
is dead. But it's certainly a concern that some of the people
responsible have themselves died.
Q. What about the Moody case - her family said that back in 1998 the
RCMP said 'The case is closed, we know exactly who killed Levina,
there's three suspects and they're all dead.' But now we fast forward to
2009 and she's added to the list. In a case like that, are you just
reviewing the file to make sure that the conclusion drawn in the 1990s
was in fact true?
A. The case wasn't closed. A homicide case isn't closed until a person
is convicted of the offence or there is another requirement in which the
file is slightly more than 100 years old, then there is no way the
person responsible is still alive.
So that investigation wasn't closed and it met our parameters and we
brought it in to determine whether there are any investigative steps
that can be taken, and that's probably all I can say.
(RCMP Cpl. Annie Linteau, who also attended the interview, pointed out
that many of the old files pre-dated modern forensics technology,
including DNA testing." Even from five years ago, we need a much smaller
DNA sample now than we did a few years ago. So some of those exhibits
have been tested," she said.
Hulan: Yes, we've done extensive testing on a significant number of the
exhibits from all or the majority of the files. We are very fortunate, I
suppose, that we have a very good relationship with our lab and
certainly receive a priority with our testing.
To go back to the Moody file for a minute, remember that we are looking
for a serial killer as well. We're trying to determine whether there was
one out there. And to discount a file that may potentially give us that
answer would have been a little bit reckless, I suppose.
Q. Can you say at this point whether police have determined or not
determined whether some of all of them are linked to a serial killer?
A. I don't think we'll be able to say that until we're at the point
where we are satisfied that we have been successful in solving or
charging in all 18 of the files, or the majority, or having determined
what the circumstances were that led to the murder, who was responsible
for it. It's too early to say that.
Until we work through all 18 of them and charge somebody, charge the
person responsible, we don't know whether they are responsible for more
than one. And it may be they are responsible for one of our 18 but may
be also responsible for others we haven't included.
It's too early in the whole scheme of things to be able to answer that
question.
Q. What is the timeline of the project? How long do you think it will
take to get through the investigative stage?
A. That's a good question. (Laughs.) I expect the project will be here,
easy, for the next three to five years.
Q. Was the project started because the government decided to provide
some funding? Or was it the RCMP?
A. Funding had to come from somewhere and it does come from the
provincial government. But I guess the decision of creating the project
or even moving forward on the investigations was made by the RCMP.
Q. Was that Gary Bass [now the commanding officer of the RCMP in B.C. ]
A. He didn't directly make the decision. At the time it would have been
Chief Supt. Dick Bent who approved the project. He's now retired. But
the government is committed to the project and the funding is there as
long as the project is running and viable.
Q. Can you give a rough idea of what kind of annual budget this project
takes?
A. $6 million.
Q. About two-thirds of your list are murder victims and about one-third
are missing. Was that a difficult decision to make - to include the
missings?
A. Well, the missing files that are included are investigation where we
believe they are victims of homicide. I don't think we've portrayed it
to the family members that we're looking for their missing daughter
elsewhere. We're conducting homicide investigations and unfortunately we
don't have the evidence of the remains.
Q. One of the things often portrayed in the media is that only Nicole
Hoar is not native.
A. I think it's about half and half...Early on in the investigation we
were asked what the racial make-up was of the victims and we wouldn't
say. And I think someone probably decided we'll make up our own answer
and see what they [police] say. But race is not a factor for us. These
victims weren't targeted because they were white or native or any other
race, for that matter. They are victims because...they were engaged in
high-risk activity, is essentially a big factor here.
We regularly hold meetings, briefing sessions, with the victims' family
members. We invite family members from all 18 of our files. And I can
tell you that race is not a factor to any of the people in that room...I
don't think there's ever been an issue of race. I think if you go back
20 years ago or 15 years ago, then there may have been concerns about
that at that time for them. But I don't see that concern still there
today.
Q. We've heard from some of the families, back in the '70s or early '80s
in some of the northern native communities, they weren't terribly
thrilled with the initial response they get from the Mounties.
A That was then.
Annie Linteau added: Even during the search for Nicole Hoar in August, a
lot of native families were interviewed in the media and were very
supportive of the efforts. It wasn't a situation of 'How come they're
searching for her and not my daughter' type of thing.
Hulan: Back then, 20 years ago, we didn't have DNA and we didn't
investigate homicides the way we do today. And you see in a remote
community where you have a small number of investigators and they are
limited by resources. But there are dozens of investigators to draw on
in the Lower Mainland. Would I, if I were in that situation, feel like I
was getting the same result for my tax dollars? I can understand their
concerns.
Annie Linteau: And how quickly information flows now with the Internet.
Back then, I doubt very much back in 1969, who would know about this?
Tips now, you have to face the fact that tips are generated a lot by
media interest. The last time, we had over 100 tips generated by a media
story...the Nicole Hoar search. We never had that 20 years ago.
Hulan: I don't want to throw stones at you guys [media] but one of the
files not included in our 18, because it was an active investigation, we
have the murder of Cindy Burk, which was a young girl hitchhiking in
northern B.C. She met all the parameters of our search and would have
been included in the 18 had it not been for the fact that the [Unsolved
Homicide] unit was conducting an investigation and Russell Felker was
charged and convicted of murder and there was very little [media]
coverage of that. For this project, it was a significant success.
Q. Was that the work of E-Pana?
A. No, it was the Unsolved Homicide Unit. He was identified as a result
of a hit from the DNA data bank.
Q. When you have a case like that, you obviously must look at him and
wonder if he's tied to any of the others on the list.
A. Absolutely.
Q. And do you do that with any other kind of people arrested for other
cases?
A. We have looked at other cases where people have been convicted of
homicide. To analyze those files and individuals to see whether they are
responsible or could be responsible for these homicides or any other
homicides.
I regularly get calls from retired members or other police. We're always
open to and alive to the potential of [people] being responsible or
charged with other offences and we assess their information with the
information contained within our files.
Q. There was talk of Bundy being responsible for the Darlington murder
because of the bite marks.
A. We've looked at that, his [Bundy's] movements. We haven't found any
link to our investigations.
We have a number of strategies beyond the reviewing of files. We also
with anyone identified in the files as a person of interest we do a
background check and analysis on them, their criminal history, and when
they were in and out of custody, and if they had the opportunity or not
to commit the homicide. That's the part that the retired members have
brought to us - we use them for that. Any idea how long that list of
potential persons of interest is?
We have a list right now of about 2,000 that we've done profiles on.
We're now moving to a secondary list that has close to 5,000 names on
it. They are people named in the investigational files. It runs the full
gamut of a person named as a strong person of interest to conducting
neighbourhood inquiries or inquiries at motels about who's staying
there.
Q. Would it be correct to say there are 7,000 suspects?
A. No.... I think we have to work through the 5,000 now and work that
down to a manageable number we have to interview.
Q. Do you see the same names come up again and again?
A. Over the years, there has been the usual suspects list in some of
these investigations and there's certainly a number of people who appear
in files, and it's more confined to the geographical area along Highway
16.
In a couple of the investigations who were people identified as prime
suspects, if you want to user that term, they've been eliminated either
through establishing an alibi or through DNA.
Q. So you're doing DNA testing to eliminate people?
A. Yes.
Q. Would you categorize them as prime suspects or persons of interest.
A. I'd say strong persons of interest.
Q. Would you say you have any prime suspects at this point?
A. I would say that in a significant number of our investigations, there
are areas for us to pursue.
Q. What came out of the search in Prince George this summer? Was that a
dead end?
A. We collected some exhibits - and we're talking about the Hoar
investigation - and some evidence that is at the lab being analyzed. I
don't wish to get into the specifics of what we collected. In addition,
there were a number of new pieces of information that were brought to us
and we're continuing to pursue that.
Q. Human remains? Is that what you are saying?
No. I'm saying we found evidence that is being tested at the lab.
Q. For DNA?
A. For DNA and other testing as well. I don't want to get into
specifics. The Hoar investigation is very sensitive and we're moving
forward on that.
Q. Did you retrieve evidence in both locations in Prince George?
A. We excavated an area looking for a specific item but didn't find
one....We did locate a vehicle and some of the exhibits at the lab
relate to that vehicle.
Q. Back in 1981 there was the police meeting about the Highway murders
and the officers at the time said that in the cases of Darlington, Weys,
MacMillen and Ignace one person of interest's name surfaced - a
33-year-old white man. Is his name one of your persons of interest?
(Hulan read a microfiche story The Sun provided about the police
conference involving about 40 detectives from B.C. and Alberta who
compared notes about unsolved cases.)
A. I can say that we brought those investigations in here ...His name
may well be here....The reviews that were conducted back then weren't as
well documented as ours are. I'm not being critical, but they didn't
have computers, which may not have been a bad thing...But the names they
identified were all made available to us, were part of our review.
When reviewing these files, to give you an idea of the report we did on
each of these reviews, the members were identifying areas that required
further follow-up and in each of the files there was prepared a 100-page
report with all the key facts of the investigation, the significant
witnesses, the persons of interest or potential suspects. The idea is
that if tomorrow we bring a new team of investigators to the project,
they don't have to review that entire file - 25 boxes or whatever it may
be. They just have to review the 100-page report to get the important
facts of the file.
Q. Some of the families have said they hate the kind of connotation for
being on this list - that they're loved one may have been involved in
some kind of high-risk activity or doing something they shouldn't have
been doing. Have you given any thought to someone like Colleen MacMillen
who was hitchhiking when a lot of people hitchhiked. Can you clarify,
when you're talking about high risk, you're not blaming the victim?
A. We certainly don't want to be critical of the victim or blame the
family in any way. But we can't lie to these people either.
Q. The case of Monica Jack - the 12-year-old girl riding her bike from
Nicola Lake to Merritt and back - is she on the list because she was on
Highway 5 or did she have to be involved in something high risk that
day.
A. No, she was riding her bike and was last seen along that highway.
Q. Are there other files out there that could be similar to these cases
but you might now have the manpower to investigate them and put them on
the same list?
A. There are other investigations out there that when you look at them
would cause you to be concerned whether there are connections between
them, but as I said before, we are constrained by resources. But also I
think it's important that when we are assigning investigators to a
project, there is not necessarily a goal but an end in sight. If we
bring in 100 files, it will never end. So when you give a job to a
person and it's almost impossible to achieve, you start losing people
pretty fast....It's not an overwhelming list.
I looked at the list you sent me and I have to be careful here because I
don't know what the investigating units have disclosed...Sometimes when
people go missing there may not always be a criminal act involved, but
sometimes family members are not always ready to accept that.
Q. Can you talk about the challenges of the project - you've taken on
files that span 40 years and a large geographical area.
A. How hard is it? It has its challenges, there's no doubt about that.
Probably the biggest challenge we face is that people are getting older
and in some cases their memory improves and in other cases it doesn't.
But we have some advantages as well that the investigators didn't have
20 odd years ago - new technology and DNA. We also have, I don't know if
I'd call it the luxury, but the benefit f bringing together a group of
investigators who are strongly committed to resolving as many of these
files as we possibly can.
The benefit of using a dedicated team is that they are not pulled away
for other duties. And 20-odd years ago, they didn't have that.
Please see Vancouver Sun
For More Investigative NEWS Articles
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Project E-PANA - Aielah Saric Murder Investigation - Four Year
Anniversary Update
File # 2005-3580 2010-02-01 13:10 PST
 Prince
George, BC: Police seek witnesses who may have information that could
help further Aielah's murder investigation.
It was four years ago, February 10, 2006 that the body of a 14- year-
old school girl, Aielah (pronounced: Eh-La) Saric, was discovered in a
ditch off Highway 16 near Tabor Mountain, 22 kilometers east of Prince
George, BC. Investigators from the “E” Division Major Crime Project
E-PANA and from the Prince George RCMP Detachment have been actively
investigating her tragic murder and to date, the search for Aielah's
killer continues.
On February 5, 2006 Aielah was reported missing by her family. She had
left home on February 2, 2006 to spend time with her friends. The
investigation has revealed that Aielah, who was wearing a mini skirt and
a dark jacket, was last seen by a close friend of the family  walking
northbound in the 2100 block of Quince Street in Prince George, between
the hours of 12:30 and 4 am on February 3, 2006. (Photo is of the 2100
block of Quince looking north towards Porter Ave. and 20th Ave.) The
witness observed two males in the area who were standing across the
street from where Aielah was walking. It appeared they were attempting
to engage her in conversation. No further observations were made and it
is unclear what may have happened next.
Although extensive enquiries have been conducted in an attempt to
identify these two males, their identities remain unknown. There is
currently no evidence to suggest that they are involved in the death of
Aielah. However, investigators believe they may have information that
could help further the police investigation.
Investigators are seeking the public's assistance in identifying these
males and asking anyone who may have information as to their identity,
whereabouts or any other information in relation with the murder of
Aielah Saric to contact the Provincial Unsolved Homicide Tip Line at
1-877-543-4822 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. All tips will be
fully investigated.
Please direct all media inquiries to Cpl. Annie Linteau, "E" Division
Strategic Communications Section, (604)264-2929.
Olympic torch lights Highway of Tears in journey across B.C.
By Jonathan Fowlie, CanwestJanuary 30, 2010
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Grand Chief Ed John of the First Nations
Summit was quietly reflective Saturday as he stood waiting for his
turn to carry the Olympic flame.
“Today’s the beginning of the journey from here to the west along
the Highway of Tears,” said John, referring to a stretch of Highway
16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert, B.C., where several
women — most of them aboriginal — have gone missing.
“As we celebrate this (Olympic) moment in the province’s history,
we also need to remember those women who are missing on this highway
and their families,” added John, who ran with the flame Saturday on
the campus of the University of Northern British Columbia.
The RCMP have officially identified 18 women missing or slain
along three major highways that weave through rural British Columbia
and into Alberta, one of which is Highway 16.
The unsolved disappearances and deaths span 37 years and, though
the victims are from multiple communities and socio-economic
backgrounds, 10 of the 18 are native.
On Saturday, John said he had an opportunity to run with the
torch either in Vancouver or Prince George, and that he opted for
the northern leg in part because it would allow him to mark the
significance of the flame’s journey along the storied highway.
“Hopefully this part of the journey will reflect the memory of
those individuals who are missing and their families who are still
looking and wondering where they may be,” he said, adding he and
other native leaders want to see a public inquiry into the issue.
“(We want) to see how these women came to go missing and why it’s
taken so long for governments and police to respond to the concerns
of the communities,” he said.
“Now that they are addressing it and responding to this, I think
it’s important,” he added.
John also said he hopes the torch relay, and the coming Olympic
Games, will help to inspire aboriginal youth throughout the country.
“As we celebrate this incredible moment, we reach out to our
young people, we reach out to the elders in our communities with a
spirit of hope and optimism,” he said.
“We need to make sure (the youth) meet the challenges in front of
them. As difficult as they may be, all of us meet those same
challenges and how we meet those challenges is we give it our best
shot.”
Surrounded by his daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren,
John said he was excited about the involvement of First Nations in
the coming Games.
“It an unprecedented moment of First Nations involvement in the
Games,” he said.
“The fact that First Nations played an instrumental role in this
was key."
John added that he’s optimistic for the future.
“We need to be. We need to keep and maintain a strong sense of
optimism,” he said.
“That’s what’s kept all of us going these years, is hope in the
future and a really strong sense of optimism.”
© copyright (c) CNS Olympics
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