Deena Braem, 17, murdered 1999; Unsolved

Keith Hildebrand, the commander of the Quesnel detachment until he retired last year, also finds it frustrating that he could never find the solution to the murder of Deena Braem, 16, who was last seen alive hitchhiking on Sept. 25, 1999. Her body was recovered three months later, on Dec. 10, northwest of Quesnel near Pinnacles Provincial Park.

Hildebrand said the unsolved murder file was already gathering dust when he arrived as detachment commander. He oversaw the Braem investigation and brought in detectives with the Surrey-based Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. They thoroughly went through the file and tried to find any tips that were not probed.

“We had some good leads but they ended in another dead end,” explained the 58-year-old retired officer, who now runs the community policing office in Quesnel.

“They are investigating tips,” he added about the state of the current investigation.

Hildebrand estimated that over the years, more than $1 million has been spent investigating Braem’s murder.

It was frustrating for him, when he retired in 2008, that the case remained unsolved.

“It bugs me the most of all my [36] years of service. It was like a loose end you leave behind,” Hildebrand said.

“Usually, when I took on a file, it had a good result to it,” he added.

“It was a frustrating investigation for everybody, including her parents,” he recalls. “It still bothers me.”

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Teen's death a mystery, 10 years later

Deena Braem's body was found near Quesnel on Dec. 10, 1999. Police are still investigating

DEC. 12, 2009

Cpl. Ray Kinloch of the Quesnel RCMP said Deena had been with a group of friends at a four-by-four track southeast of the city earlier in the evening. They then went to another party on the west end of town but Deena didn't want to stay, and decided to hitchhike home despite the pouring rain outside.

A friend she was out with that night, but who stayed at the party, last saw Deena hitchhiking about 4 a.m. Saturday morning on North Fraser Drive, which runs parallel to the Fraser River. People working the early shift at the local mill also saw her standing on the side of the road.

Deena usually phoned her parents for a lift but this time she didn't. She was less than 10 km from home.

Investigators asked the Braems if Deena might have run away, a suggestion Jim rejected outright. He didn't know where his daughter was, but he held out some hope that they would find her.

Paula was less certain their daughter was still alive. "It just wasn't like her. Everything from that Saturday on just didn't feel right," she said.

Unfortunately, Paula's worst fears were proven true.

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