Terrace Standard
Terrace, British Columbia, Canada
24 Aug 1988, Wed • Page 2
RCMP want to question a man who hitched a ride with an Alaskan resident later found shot to death in a gravel pit near Stewart. Described as a person in which the police are interested, the hitchhiker caught a ride with Philip Innes Fraser June 17 or 18 at 40 Mile Flats, south of Dease Lake. Fraser, 23, left Anchorage, Alaska on June 14 in a 1983 black V.W. Jetta full of personal effects. It was later found burnt out in a Prince George carwash June 19. Fraser's body was found July 27 in the gravel pit on Hwy37A near Stewart. The hitchhiker is described as a white male, late teens or early 20s, five feet 10 inches tall and weighing between 200 and 220 pounds. He has brown short hair with a wave, is heavy set with a midriff bulge, has a fat . neck, badly decayed teeth, strong body odour, slow speech and light facial hair under the chin. He was wearing a blue or white T-shirt, red or burgundy coloured pants and was wearing running shoes. He had a packsack on a packboard and a Anatomy of a Start Search Philip Innes Fraser small day pack. There is no indication if the hitchhiker has an accent. Police also want to talk to a person driving a dark coloured pick up truck with a light stripe on the side who dropped off the hitchhiker at 40 Mile Flts. '. ) Sergeant Wayne' Watson of J the RCMP's Prince Rupert sub- division General Investigation Services (GIS) section said the pick up driver dropped off the hitchhiker who then caught a ride with Fraser. Fraser was five feet nine in ches tall, of light build, had light brown hair and blue eyes. He was normally dressed in blue jeans, shirt and seater. His Jetta carried Alaskan plates, licence number CBJ-358. The back window was taped in place after being shattered in an acci- Fraser travelled via the Alaska Highway from Beaver Creek border crossing in the Yukon. He travelled as far as Upper Liard, Yukon and then south on the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy37. He passed through Cassiar and Dease Lake. Watson said it appears Fraser was in Dease Lake on Friday June 17 or Saturday June 18. He was last seen at 40 Mile Flats in the company of the hitchhiker. The sergeant said Fraser was shot with a handgun and it is possible the hitchhiker is carrying a weapon. ... Watson added Prince George RCMP have a general idea of the personal effects in Fraser's Jetta and are keeping an eye out for them. Anybody with information relating to the incident is asked to contact the nearest detachment of the RCMP. hynfc realized after after on and both Aug. a " that in its to this university
RCMP have begun an extensive publicity campaign to help solve the murder of an Alaskan man in June near Stewart. The body of Philip Innes Fraser, 23, was found in a gravel pit near Stewart on Hwy37A July 27. He had been shot. In particular, RCMP want to question a hitchhiker who got a ride with Fraser June 17 or June 18 at 40 Mile Flats, south of Dease Lake. The campaign includes press releases sent to all regional newspapers, distribution of posters with pictures of Innes and a description of the hitchhiker and a Crimestoppers-style video filmed last week by Skeena Broadcasters. Information gleaned as a result of the campaign will be examined by a team of RCMP General Investigation Services (GIS) officers based in Prince George and in Prince Rupert. "We have lots of leads right now and expect lots more. No doubt this will generate a lot of response," said Sergeant Wayne Watson, head of the RCMP's Prince Rupert subdivision GIS section. He said four GIS members THRRACli PKU-CUT from Prince Rupert and six or seven from Prince George are involved. Prince George officers are in on the investigation as Fraser's 1983 black Jetta car was found burned out in a car wash there June 19. Watson said the number of officers involved in the investigation is standard given the type of offense.
Terrace Standard
Terrace, British Columbia, Canada
28 Sep 1988, Wed • Page 6
HUNT CONTINUES
RCMP officers investigating the July death of a man near Stewart took their case to his home state of Alaska last week. Sergeant Wayne Watson of the RCMP's General Investigation Services section in Prince Rupert was in the northern state conferring with Alaskan state trooper counterparts as part of the job of tracking down various leads into the murder of Philip Innes Fraser. Publicity from Fraser's murder has lead to numerous inquiries being made to RCMP detachments in the northwest. RCMP are looking for a male hitchhiker last seen in the company of Fraser who was found shot to death July 27 in a gravel pit near Stewart. The police last month issued a detailed description of the hitchhike who caught a ride with Fraser June 17 or June 18 at 40 Mile Flats south of Dease Lake. Another G1S officer, Constable David Keils said the leads will take some time to sort out. He described the process as painstaking but one that could pay off. 'It takes some time with this kind of investigation. We've got a lot of leads as a result of media coverage," said Dells. The officer said the investigation is still missing the one vital piece of information that would lead to the discovery of the wanted hitchhiker. The hitchhiker is described as a white male in his late teens or early 20s who is five feet, 10 to- Philip Innes Fraser ches tall and weighs between 200 and 220 pounds. He has brown short hair with a heavy, is heavyset with a midriff bulge, has a fat neck, badly decayed teeth, has strong body odour, slow speech and light facial hair under his chin. He was last seen wearing a blue or white t-shirt, red or burgundy coloured pants and running shoes. He had a packsack on a packboard and a small day pack. Police are also looking for the driver of a dark coloured pickup truck with a light stripe on the side. It is believed the driver dropped off the hitchhiker at 40 Mile Flats immediately before he got a ride with Fraser. Fraser was driving a 1983 black Jetta Volkswagen. It was later recovered burnt out in a Prince George carwash June 19.
Terrace Standard
Terrace, British Columbia, Canada
21 Jun 1989, Wed • Page 5
MURDER INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
It's been a year since Philip Innes Fraser was murdered near Stewart and investigating RCMP officers are beginning to fill up their second four-drawer filing cabinet of information. The job of finding the killer of the 23-year-old Alaskan resident is the fulltime occupation of two RCMP investigators from Prince Rupert with assistance from officers in Prince George and Vancouver. It's a difficult job, says one of those officers, Constable Dave Kells, and one made more challenging because of the isolation of northern B.C. If ; Philip Innes Fraser Socreds shift burden Dear Sir: I recently had a conversation about school taxes with a friend of mine. He was justifiably annoyed at yet another increase "In a populated area there would be a lot more witnesses. Compounding that is that Fraser was travelling from point A to point B, he was simply travelling through the area, and we could well be dealing with a transient who could be anywhere," said Kells recently. Fraser was found shot to death in a gravel pit near Stewart on July 27, 1988. It is known he crossed into Canada from Alaska June 17, 1988 and travelled south on Hwy37 where he picked up a male hitchhiker at 40 Mile Flat, a gas station and restauarant about 70km south of Dease Lake. His black Volkswagen Jetta was found burnt out in a Prince George carwash on June 19. The job of finding Fraser's killer was helped earlier this year when RCMP released a composite drawing of the hitchhiker. Described as a white male, late teens or early 20s,' five feet 10 inches tall and weighing between 200 and 220 pounds, he has brown short hair with a wave to the left. The man is heavy set with a midriff bulge, has a fat neck, badly decayed teeth, strong body odor, slow speech, light facial hair under the chin and is a nail biter) LETTERS RCMP describe the investigation as difficult given that the hitchhiker could not be a resident of the north. Most, if not all, of Fraser's personal effects were missing from his Jetta upon its discovery in Prince George. Each one of those people who might fit the profile of the hitchhiker Is checked as to their whereabouts at the time of Fraser's death. The release of the composite drawing lead to a number of lea'ds which are now being looked into by the officers. "We are slowly getting somewhere. There's a lot of work done already and quite a bit ahead of us. We're making inquiries all over the country. The release has given us a lot of suspects," said Kells. Each one of those people who might fit the profile of the hitchhiker is checked as to their whereabouts at the time of Fraser's death. At any one time, officers might have have a dozen people in which they are interested. Prince George RCMP officers are involved because that's where Fraser's car was found while Vancouver RCMP officers belonging to the serious crime unit give assistance for investigations down south. "Without their help, I don't know where we would be," said Kells. "The hitchhiker could have come from anywhere and could have been going to anywhere," he said. One of the disadvantages of investigating in the north is the distance involved in talking to somebody, said Kells, as it can mean a two day round trip just to talk to somebody for one day. Despite that, the investigators are confident they will come across the one crucial piece of information that will be invaluable. "We're very hopeful a name of somebody to track down, to lead us toward the right person. We're very optimistic something will turn up," said Kells. property owners presently provide less school tax revenue than they did in 1983 by thirty-five per cent while residential property owners provide more than Have you seen this man? Pensions offer little hope w nm : A'W I.
Houston Today
Houston, British Columbia, Canada
08 Feb 1989, Wed • Page 2
RCMP Requests Assistance
RCMP are looking for a murderer and need help. They are continuing their investigation into the murder of Philip Innes Fraser, an American citizen, whose body was found July 27, 1988 in a gravel pit next to Highway 37A, approximately 47 kilometres east of Stewart, BC. Fraser had left Anchorage, Alaska, June 14 and had been travelling south in his black 1983 Volks wagon Jetta, Alaska licence number CBJ-358. The Jetta was noticeably damaged from an accident which occurred in Alaska. Most noticeable was damage to the rear window which was held in by tape after this accident. It is known that Fraser crossed into Canada June 17 and travelled the Alaska Highway to the junction of Hwy 37 (StewartCassiar Hwy.) at Upper Liard. Investigation has led police to believe that Fraser then went south on Hwy 37 to 40 Mile Flat, which is a gas station and restaurant located approximately 70 kilometers south of Dease Lake, on Highway 37. Witnesses at this point saw Fraser pick up a hitch-hiker and have provided police with a composite drawing depicting this male. This hitch-hiker is described as: - white male, late teens to early request assistance - 5'10", 200-220 lbs. - short brown hair with a wave to the left , fat neck strong body odor light facial hair under the chin noticeably slow speech - nail biter carrying a pack sack on a pack board, dark brown or beige in color, and a small day pack wearing a blue or white shirt, red or burgandy colored pants and grey or blue runners The identity of this hitchhiker is unknown to date and police are extremely interested in identifying and speaking with this male. Here is a composite drawing depicting the hitchhiker. It is known that this hitchhiker was dropped off at 40 Mile Flat by someone driving a late model pick-up truck, possibly a Ford which was dark in color with a light stripe down the side. Inquiries by police to date have not been able to determine who these people were that dropped the hitch-hiker off at 40 Mile Flat. The RCMP wish to speak with these people as it is believed they can provide valuable information regarding this investigation, particularly in regards to the identity of the hitch-hiker in question. Fraser's car was discovered June 19 at 9:30 p.m. in Prince George, where it had been set on fire in the Car Pool Car Wash. Examination of the vehicle leads police to believe that most, if not all, of Fraser's personal belongings are still missing. These belongings include personal papers, luggage, clothing, a portable cassette player and numerous cassette tapes. Police are seeking assistance from any person who may have knowledge or information regarding this homicide, in particular the identity of the hitch-hiker picked up by Fraser at 40 Mile Flat prior to Fraser picking him up. It is requested that anyone who has information related to this investigation please contact the Prince Rupert Subdivision, RCMP General Investigation Section, at (604) 624-6787, or your local police at 692-7171 in Burns Lake. An artists sketch of a hit-chiker picked up by the murdered man.