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LIST OF MURDERED WOMEN
List of murdered women in Vancouver and Lower Mainland
KARI ANN GORDON, , 26, disappeared in 1997. Her body was discovered in March 1998 at Little Lillooet Lake, near Pemberton.
Noreen Gordon says she last saw her daughter alive in January, 1997. Kari had been home for Christmas and New Year's before returning to Nanaimo, where she was trying to cut her ties to drugs and the Downtown Eastside. She had a young son and she was hoping to regain custody of him from her ex-husband.
"Kari knew an awful lot of people," her mother, confirmed. "She was a very, very warm person. She would do anything to help anybody, whether she knew them or not."
"She was over in Nanaimo trying to straighten her life out," Kari's sister, Kjersti Halabisky, said. ". . . I do know she was trying to get her life together."
Whether she succeeded isn't clear. Her family believes she was free of drugs and no longer working the streets. "I don't think she was when she was up visiting me," Halabisky said. "I don't think she was into prostitution. I really don't."
Noreen Gordon says she last saw her daughter alive in January, 1997. Kari had been home for Christmas and New Year's before returning to Nanaimo, where she was trying to cut her ties to drugs and the Downtown Eastside. She had a young son and she was hoping to regain custody of him from her ex-husband.
"She was over in Nanaimo trying to straighten her life out," Kari's sister, Kjersti Halabisky, said. ". . . I do know she was trying to get her life together."
Whether she succeeded isn't clear. Her family believes she was free of drugs and no longer working the streets. "I don't think she was when she was up visiting me," Halabisky said. "I don't think she was into prostitution. I really don't."
Information about how Kari died or the manner in which the body was left,has not been released, since that is presumably information known only by police and her killer
CASSANDRA LAILONI ANTONE , aged 20-year found murdered on June 1, 1997, in a bramble bush patch of remote area of Richmond, BC on A hiker found her burned body.
She had a seven-month-old son whom she named Sky Gerald Jestyn Dominic Mattson-Antone. Cassandra was a member of the Squamish Nation.
Cassandra was drug addicted and a prostitute who worked the Main and Hastings streets area of Vancouver. Her last known address was in North Vancouver.
Constable Mike Lidstone, a North Vancouver RCMP Officer, described Cassandra as a sweet girl with a big smile who treated everyone with respect. "She was always, always a pleasant girl to be around and talk to. Always," said Lidstone. Const. Lidstone said Cassandra was on Hastings Street for a couple of months only.
"Her addiction took her places a lot of people didn't think she would ever go to," said Lidstone.
He added that the power of addiction can take a good person to low places.
The police constable said he last saw Antone 10 months ago. Lidstone offered to help Antone recover from drug use.
"She indicated at that point that drugs were no longer a problem in her life," said Lidstone. "At that point, I felt she was cleaning her life up and living clean and happy."
Lidstone said Cassandra's mother used to drive around at nights looking for her daughter.
Antone's former teachers at Keith Lynn Alternate Secondary School (KLASS) continue to be stunned and upset about the death of the popular student.
"She was always one of my very favorite students. She was one of those students you almost cared too much for," said teacher Bonnie Grant, who was Antone's homeroom teacher in 1994-1995.
Grant said the last time she saw Antone was about a year ago at a movie theatre.
"I was in the line getting popcorn and she came up behind me and gave me a big hug," said Grant.
Antone was so highly regarded at her school that she was recruited as a peer counsellor. Antone attended KLASS from 1993 to 1995.
Said principal Woldy Sosnowsky, "She had a real desire to do good things with people. She was a very positive influence around the school, especially with First Nations people."
Teachers described Antone in a yearbook comment as being "Like a shining star. Often we wonder where you are. When she is here she shines so bright. All too often she is out of sight."
Teachers said Antone had a flair for art and writing.
Cassandra's high school annual bio wrapped up her ambitions as, "to finish school, marry, have a million kids and live happily ever after."
The Richmond RCMP have given out few details about the murder investigation.
They asked anyone who was in the area of the east end of Triangle Road between midnight on May 31 to 9 a.m. on June 1 to contact Cpl. Gary Shinkaruk or Const. Russ Howard at 278-1212.
ANGIE WILLIAMS , 31-year-old native woman who had struggled with a drug problem and worked off and on as a prostitute in the Downtown Eastside. Angie's body found in an isolated part of south Surrey. No cause of death has been determined, but her sister believes Angie met with foul play.
"There is no bloody way my sister would be out in Surrey in the middle of nowhere. I know that. There is no way. She didn't own a car. She would not be out there," her sister states.
"I fear that this is all connected."
Angie made a frantic call to their aunt days before she was last seen Dec. 9, and showed up at the aunt's home distressed and fearing for her life. "She was just bawling. She was crying and she was scared. She showed up at 3 o'clock in the morning," Willier said, adding her sister had apparently escaped from a house in Vancouver where she was being held against her will. "She feared for her life that night." Within days, Angie had disappeared and her frantic family filed a report with Vancouver police and was putting up posters in the Downtown Eastside, unaware that Surrey RCMP had already found a body and was asking for help with identification.
A few months before Williams was found dead, two other women, both 21-year-old sex-trade workers who were friends and worked in the Downtown Eastside, were dumped, overdosed and alive, in isolated parts of Delta. Both women later died.
RY RONG ,21, September 3, drug overdosed.though police said they treated the deaths as suspicious because neither of the women could have reached the spot where they were found on their own. No vehicles were found nearby in any of the three deaths.
Rong came to Canada as a small child, eventually ending up in the foster system.
He said she was working in porn films to earn enough money to help her younger sister, who was also in a foster home in another province.
Rong had been featured in three pornographic films before her death and was not a heavy drug user, her former employer and close friend George Marion said.said in the months he knew Rong, he never saw her use drugs and does not believe she was an addict who would have overdosed.
Ry's boss and close friend is convinced Rong, whom he met last March and saw four days before her death in September, was murdered.
He said he knew Rong was not a heavy drug user because his performers had to take drug tests and all hers were clean.
He showed full-body nude photos of Rong to prove his point. "Does that look like someone who was on drugs?" he said of the attractive young woman with shoulder-length brown hair.
LILY NUON, 21,June 24.Suspicious overdose as police state there was no way she could have gotten to the area where her body was found without a vehicle.
Lily was a known heavy drug user. She was a personal friend of Ry Rong's, both having come to Canada from Cambodia.
Nuon's body was found off Nordel Way by a worker with the highways ministry. Police know she was still alive when dumped because she was found clutching a branch at the scene.
TRACY OLAJIDE , 30, of Vancouver, BC, whose body was found in the bush 13 kilometres off the Lougheed Highway at Harrison Mills, near Agassiz, BC. Cause of death unknown, but foul play is suspected. She was a prostitute in the Downtown Eastside of the city from where many prostitutes have been murdered in the past few years. (Sun, Aug. 15/95)
WENDY POOLE ,26, of Vancouver, found beaten to death Jan. 26/89 on the second floor of a Downtown Eastside housing coop. She was the mother of one and was pregnant with her second child. A man arrested in connection with her death was later acquitted. She was one of 25 prostitutes to have been killed in B.C. since 1989. (Van.Sun. Aug. 21/95 p.A3)
TRACEY LEIGH CHARTRAND , 25, of Vancouver, BC, went missing about the same time two other Mount Pleasant prostitutes were found strangled, in Nov/88. Her body was later found in a shallow grave on the UBC Endowment lands, April 7/89.(Van. Sun. Aug.21/95 p.A3)
Catherine Mary Lou Daignault, 40, of Vancouver, found beaten to death at a Maple Ridge construction site, May 31/89. She had just returned from Winnipeg. She was one of 25 prostitutes to have been killed in BC since 1989. (Van. Sun. Aug. 21/95 p. A3)
UNIDENTIFIED , mid 30's, Vancouver, BC. A woman's body was found stabbed to death in a Mt.Pleasant apartment. Police received an anonymous call saying a woman's body could be found in the 700 block E. 7th Avenue. (Vancouver Sun. March 2/94)
UNIDENTIFIED , girl between 14 - 16, whose skull was found in Stanley Park near Beaver Lake, July 17, 1990. It is believed she was killed sometime between 1985 and 1990. A composite drawing of her has been developed with new technology and released for possible identification through the papers. (Sun, July 26/95)
FRANCES ANN GRANT , 33, of Vancouver, whose nude body was found dumped behind a house at 10th and Carolina, June 4/89. She was one of 25 prostitutes to have been killed in BC since 1989. (Van. Sun, Aug. 21/95 p.A3)
BONNIE KATE WHALAN , 32, of Vancouver BC whose remains were found near the Seymour River in North Vancouver, April 2/90. Police were never able to determine how she was killed because her body had been in the river for some time. She was one of 25 prostitutes to have been killed since 1989. (Sun. Aug. 21/95 p. A3)
CHERI LYNN SMITH , 18, of Victoria, BC, who had been a peer counsellor and a B-plus student in Victoria until she met her teenage boyfriend who later became her pimp. She had been missing since June 1990 when her badly decomposed body was found dumped in bushed in a Saanich regional park, Sept. 9/90. She was one of 25 prostitutes to have been killed since 1989. (Sun. Aug. 21/95. p.A3) She was beaten to death. Police believe her murder is linked to the the murders of three other prostitutes, (Taylor of Vancovuer, Gallup of Victoria and Nicholson of Shawnigan Lake. (Sun, Sept. 16/95 p. A4)
MELISSA NICHOLSON , 17, found slain beside a gravel road at Shawnigan lake, BC, June 11/91. Police report she was last seen getting into a pickup truck in an area frequented by prostitutes. She was one of 25 prostitutes to have been killed since 1989. (Sun. Aug. 21/95 p.A3)
CRYSTAL WRIGHT , 19, of Kelowna, BC, found dead at the Abbott Villa Inn, Sept. 26/91. The man who killed her turned himself in at the police station claiming he was drunk at the time. He got 2 1/2 years in jail. She was seven months pregnant. She was one of 25 prostitutes to have been killed since 1989.(Sun Aug. 21/95 p.A3)
JAMIE DAWN VANWIEREN , 17, of Vernon, BC, found dead July 22/94, in Vernon Creek one day after she went missing. A man was later charged with her murder. She is one of 25 prostitutes to have been killed since 1989. (Sun, Aug. 21/95 p. A3)
TINA LEADLEY , was killed in Kelwona, BC, April 24/93. RCMP charged a man in connection with her death. She was one of 25 prostitutes killed in BC since 1989. (Sun. Aug. 21/95 p.A3)
TAMMY LEE PIPE , 24, of Vancouver, BC, cause of death has not been released due to similarity to other murders of Vancouver prostitutes. Her body was found in a wooded area near Agassiz, just like Tracey Olajide.
CAROL RUBY DAVIS , 29, whose partly nude body was dumped in the bush near Wiggins Ave. in Burnaby, BC, June 20, 1987. She was the mother of two and a known drug user.She had been stabbed to death.
CHANTAL MARIE VENNE , 21, in Esquimalt, BC, was found strangled with the belt of her coat and her hands bound. The former Mt. Pleasant prostitute was tortured, sexually assaulted and her partly clad body dumped in an industrial area. Fe. 25, 1986.
UMI O'BRIAN , 34, of Vancouver, BC on Nov. 3/89. Her body was found in a rain filled ditch in Richmond, BC. She loved to show photos of her daughter and cook for other residents of the East End rooming house where she lived.
RACHEL TURLEY , 20, found Oct. 28/85, beaten and strangled in a wooded area at the bottom of The Chief, in Squamish, BC. She has been sexually assaulted. She was known to police as a Granville St. "street person", who once worked as a prostitute. However, she had a good family in Squamish, and had been up to see them. Later that evening or early the next day her body was found.
DONNA ROSE KISS , 25, of Surrey, BC on Aug. 21/86. She was strangled with a tie and her body was dumped near 65A Ave and 136 St. She was a prostitute in the West End of Vanc. until a soliciting conviction banned her from her usual strip.
ROSE MINNIE PETERS , 28, of Vancouver, BC strangled, beaten and sexually assaulted April 3/88, in the Strathcona district. She was a known prostitute, also.
MARGARET VEDAN , 41, of Vancouver, BC, on April 7/88, stabbed numerous times in her apartment. Although she was a prostitute, she was also the mother of four grown children.
MARY O'DONNELL , 53, of Vancouver,BC, found beaten to death and sexually assaulter in Templeton Park, on July 28/88.
LISA MARIE GAVIN , 21, of Vancouver, BC, beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled before being dumped in a lane behind Knight Rd. Aug. 13/88. She worked as a Mount Pleasant prostitute.
CONNIE CHRISTENSON , 27, of Vancouver, BC on Sept. 11/88, severely beaten and stabbed to death in her apartment, where her body was found. She was working as a prostitute.
GLENNA MARIE SOWAN , 25, of Vancouver, BC, on Sept. 30/88, beaten and strangled, and found naked in the lane behind West 24th. She was a prostitute, but also the mother of a baby girl.
TEJ KAUR HUNDLE , 67, of Vancouver, BC, strangled in her home on Dec. 2/88.
DIANE GUDMUNDSON ,24, of Vancouver, BC found dead, July 8/89, in her apartment on Main St. Cause of death was not released.
ANN RUBY THRELFELL , 24, of Vancouver, BC, strangled to death, Jan. 12/80. She was a prostitute.
NASHTER DHAHAN , 25, of Vancouver, BC, a home-maker and part time cab driver, strangled and found in a parking lot Feb. 9/80.
BERNADINE STANDINGREADY , 26, of Vancouver, BC, found dead Nov. 12/91, in an auto wrecking yard on Cordova St. Police did not release cause of death.
KIMBERLEY GALLUP , 18, of Victoria, BC, was working as a prostitute and was picked up by a man wearing a pink and green ski jacket. She was found at 4 a.m. Nov.21/90 in a room at the Colony Motor Inn, strangled. Police believe the killer lives in the Lower Mainland and may be connected to the deaths of three other prostitutes.
GRACE BARBARA THEODOROU , 21, of Vancouver, BC, whose dismembered body was found at Cypress Bowl in West Vancouver, BC, Oct5/91. She was a mushroom picker and was last seen leaving her apartment May 3/91. Cause of death is unknown.
TANYA SMITH , 16, of Abbotsford, BC, beaten, along with her best friend Misty Cockerill, then raped and drowned in the Vedder River, near Chilliwack. Their attacker has proceeded to phone the police and taunt them about this case and promised to commit more attacks. Since then, two women in Vancouver were assaulted by him, however they escaped.
UPDATE : Canadian News Digest
Thursday, January 13,2000
By The Canadian Press
Abbotsford killer Terry Driver declared dangerous offender for 15 years VANCOUVER (CP) -- A man who raped and murdered one teenager, beat her friend with a baseball bat and then taunted police about the attacks has been declared a dangerous offender. But instead of the usual indeterminate prison term, Terry Driver's dangerous offender designation only lasts 15 years. Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein said in a ruling released Thursday she opted for the limited term to avoid "undue and unnecessary strain and disruption" on the parole system and the victims. Under an indefinite sentence, the victims would have to testify at a review hearing within three years and then at hearings every two years after that. Driver, dubbed the Abbotsford killer, attacked Tanya Smith, 16, and her friend Misty Cockerill as they walked to a late-night party in October 1995. Smith was sexually assaulted and placed in the Vedder River, where she drowned. Cockerill, who was beaten with a baseball bat, escaped. Driver then terrorized the residents of the Fraser Valley farming community of Abbotsford by making taunting phone calls to police and defacing Smith's gravestone.
VICTORIA LYNN YOUNKER , 35, of Vancouver, BC whose body was found near Mission, BC. It has been there for some time, no other info available (Oct. 21/95 CTV news.)listed at first as an unknown, as the name was not discovered until Oct. 25/95. She was also a Vancouver prostitute and it is felt her murder my be by the same suspect in two other murders of prostitutes whose bodies were found in the same area. He has since been returned to prison on parole violation.
DOROTHY SPENCE , 33, of Vancouver, has been missing since August 6/95. She was a prostitute in the Main and Hastings area which is where several others were scooped by a killer, and it is thought she may be another in a series of murdered prostitutes whose bodies have been found out in the Aggasiz area. No positive leads yet.
MARY LIDGUERRE , aged 30, of Vancouver, was last seen alive on July 7, 1995. Mary's skeletal remains were found by Park Rangers on Aug. 16, 1996 in a remote location on Mount Seymour in the Mount Seymour Provincial Park.
Anyone who knew Mary or anyone with information is asked to contact Corporal Chris Kennedy at (604) 985-1311, local 7414, or Crime Stoppers at 669-8477. THERE HAVE BEEN NO ARRESTS
BONNIE WHALEN , 32, was discovered Aggasiz area in April 1990. Police think the same person who murdered Bonnie may have also murdered Mary Lidguerre and possibly Dorothy Spence, who's body has not yet been found.
Barbara Ellen Killon , of Richmond, BC, missing and presumed dead. Nov. 6/95
UNIDENTIFIED , of Rupert St. Vancouver, a practical nurse, stabbed to death, Nov.9/95
MELODY ANNE NEWFIELD , 33, of Vancouver, BC, beaten to death and dumped naked in a Burnaby parking lot, Nov. 30/95. Peter Michael Beaupre, 31 has been charged with her murder. Witnesses saw a man drag a body out of a truck. They also saw a white dog in the truck. They got a good look at the truck and reported the incident to police immediately. It is thought the killer may be responsible for other brutal murders in the Lower Mainland area.
PAMELA JOY CAMERON , 16, of Surrey BC, strangled and buried under leaves less than four blocks from where she was last seen. She went missing and within a half hour of being unaccounted for was being looked for, however police would not look until the next day when they found her body with help from a police dog. (Vanc. Sun. Oct. 7/94) Mitchell James Owen, pled guilty to the first degree murder of Pamela Cameron and was sentenced to the madatory term of life in prison without parole for 25 years. He was previously convicted and sentenced to 9 years for the 1982 rape and robbery of a Vancovuer woman attacked in the Woodward's parking lot. He is a suspect in several other murders including Tina Louise Parr, Jamie Dawn Vanwieren and Mindy Tran, all on this list.
CHARLENE KERR , 29, of Vancouver, BC. discovered in a pool of blood in a Gastown Hotel. She was a drug addict and prostitute and is believed to have been killed during a robbery. No suspects.
LYNN DUGGAN , 34, of North Vancouver, BC, reported missing from her blood spattered apartment, June 10/93. The shower curtains, towels, pillow cases and bedding including bedspread and curtains are all missing. The mattress on her bed was blood-stained. Police have no suspects. (Van. Sun, June 22/93, p. B6) Her skull was found June 30/94 in the Seymour Demonstration Forest. Police have a suspect, but not enough proof to arrest him. (Van. Sun, Sept. 16/95 p. A4)
PATRICIA PENDLETON , 29, of Mission, BC, stabbed 21 times in the throat and 5 times in the torso with two separate knives in June /92; however no weapon was ever found. Her skull had been fractured by one or more blows. Scott Clifford Aune, 29, also of Mission was charged with second degree murder in the vicious killing, but was found not guilty. His acquittal did not sit well with her friends. There was no evidence of sexual activity, but the wounds were consistent with torture. (Van. Sun, p. B7, June 26/93)
CRYSTA LYNN DAVID , 21, found March 25/92, smothered to death in her basement suite in New Westminster, BC. She was last seen alive March 21/92, leaving a nightclub at 2 a.m. with a blond man. No other info is available. (Van. Province, July 7/93, p. A3)
LISA LYNN MCLAREN , 24, Vancouver prostitute, found by a train crew in the bush. She went missing July 31/93. (Van Sun, Aug 4/93, p. B3) She was found strangled to death and left lying beside a railway track. Marvin Tom of Vanderhoof, BC has been charged with first degree murder after his DNA was found from swabs taken from her body. (Province, July 3/95. p. A12)
LORI ANNE PENNYCOOK , 29, of Vancouver, BC, found in dishwasher, dumped south of Chilliwack, BC, by a prison guard patrolling near the perimeter of a minimum security prison. She was identified through fingerprints. She was reported missing June 23, not found until July 13/93. (Van. Sun, July 27/93. p. B5)
BIRDENA GRACE PIERCE , 38, beaten to death and found in a downtown Vancouver, BC street, Aug 6/93. No other info. (Van. Sun, Aug. 11/93, p. B12)
TINA THOMPSON , 20, whose body was found on a trail near Wreck Beach, Vancouver, BC. She had been a beer vendor and regularly there. It is a "nude" beach. A Somalian or Ethiopian man is the only suspect. (Vanc. Sun, Aug. 11/93, p. B12)
UNIDENTIFIED , age 33, found in a ditch in Langley, BC, Aug 10/93. (Vanc. Sun, Aug 11/93, p. B12)
LALONNIE FRANCES THIBERT , 25, Sexually assaulted and dismembered with a chainsaw and buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area in Langley, BC, David Ernest Rhodes, the suspect in her death was captured and held by some male friends of Thibert who called an off-duty drug squad office, told them they had something for him and arranged a meet. They turned a kicking, screaming man over to him and drove off. The officer was not able to hang on to him and he escaped. (Vanc. Sun, Nov 15/93 p. B1 - after days of having his picture on tv and in the papers, CTV news Nov 17/93 reported that he turned himself in. Rhodes, originally charged with second degree murder was found guilty of manslaughter in Thibert's death and will be sentenced on June 29. He cut up her body with a chainsaw, and it was four days before it was discovered. A judge has ordered he undergo psychiatric review because there was some suggestion he "enjoyed cutting up the body." (Sun. June 6/95 p. B4) It was discovered that Thibert was asphyxiated before being dismembered with a chainsaw by David Rhodes. He was sentenced to six years for manslaughter. He was permitted to plead guilty to the lesser offence after forensic reports indicated the woman was high on a speedball of coaine and heroid and died after being gagged with clothing. Her body was found Nov. 12/93 in a shallow grave in Langley after being cut up and stuffed in a heavy mail sack.(Sun.Aug. 21 or 22 /95)
DAYLE LINDA PATTERSON , 32, stabbed to death and her body left in a man's rented room in Victoria, BC. He has been charged with first degree murder. (Vanc. Province. Dec. 10/93, pA19). Cabbie, Christopher Milke, 34, who stabbed Patterson, a prostitute 32 times then slit her throat was convicted of second-degree murder, however his lawyer, Clark Purves argues that Milke should be found not guilty by reason of a mental disorder. Milke faces an automatic life term. He had picked Patterson up and paid her $50 for sex. When she tried to leave before he had finished, "he exploded into anger and the pent-up hatred he had of women poured out." (Province - Nov.18/94 p.A11)
CHERYL-ANNE JOE , 26, murdered and sexually mutilated, Jan 20, 1992. A Vancouver man has been charged with her murder.
VICKIE ROSALIND BLACK , 25, whose body was found in a dumpster by a scavenger. She also was a prostitute, well known and well liked by her coworkers. She died March 4, 93
LINDA TATRAI , Vancouverprostitute stabbed to death...in 1989
Colleen Shook of Burnaby, stabbed to death... who was attacked after getting off a bus
KIM STOLBERG , who was killed at her father's Richmond engineering office while she was arranging a surprise wedding anniversary for her parents. stabbedto deathin 1989
APRIL LYNN REOCH ,20, was featured in Through a Blue Lens.
April was the poster girl in a Vancouver police department documentary film about all that can go wrong with life on the streets using hard drugs.
The transformation of April Lynn Reoch from young red-headed beauty to a barely recognizable drug-ravaged skeleton in the National Film Board-produced film Through a Blue Lens sent a graphic message to young audiences of the horrors of heroin and cocaine.
April made at least five attempts at getting off drugs through various detox programs, and by the age of 24, April had a bad heart condition from the abuse.
Doctors told April she would have to change her lifestyle because of the heart condition, and for a time she did, staying at a Surrey recovery house to get her life in order.
But the lure of the street was too much and April was found dead in a rooming house on East Hastings Street on Christmas morning.
Now, friends and the police officers who shot the eye-opening film are waiting for an autopsy report to find out exactly what killed April.
(borrowed from Wayne Leng's website)
Vancouver police officers honoured April with an official piper and a ceremonial parade from 100 E. Hastings St. to the First United Church at 320 E. Hastings, where a memorial service was held.
"She was so disrespected on her death that we wanted to bring a strong sense of dignity to her memorial," said Const. Al Arsenault, who saw her three days before her death."
