CANADA Canada - Nola Belisle, 37, Moose Jaw, SK, 18 May 1995

Moose Jaw Times Herald



It's been exactly 12 years and people are still wondering who killed
Nola Belisle.
The fun-loving, 37-year-old Moose Jaw woman was participating in a
charity walk from Moose Jaw to Regina along the Trans-Canada Highway
May 18, 1995, when she was hit by a truck.
As Belisle lay dying in a ditch beside the road, the driver fled
the scene and has yet to be found.
"I still can't get over the fact that it happened," said friend
Laurie Acott, who was walking with Belisle when she died. "I wish
whoever did it would come forward. It would put a lot of people's
minds to rest."
Regina RCMP are still investigating the incident and Const.
Clifton Dunn, spokesman for the historical case unit, said police
still receive four or five tips a year about the incident.
"I think it's a solvable file," he said. "It's just a matter of
banging on the right doors and getting the right people to talk."
The walk, a fundraiser to help the Royal Canadian Legion Branch
No. 59 buy a van for the handicapped, was spearheaded by Belisle who
had been a hostess there for 20 years.
She recruited Acott to take up the challenge with her and the pair
spent many nights traipsing through the city to train, talking and
laughing the whole way.
"When she first told me about it, I said, 'No one's going to pay
us to walk to Regina!'" said Acott. "But Nola said, 'Oh yes they
will!' And, sure enough, they did. That's just the kind of person she
was."
Belisle and Acott were three kilometres east of Pense — the place
they had chosen to stop for the night — around 5 p.m. when a truck
speeding along the highway clipped Belisle with its side mirror,
sending her into the ditch.
Acott, who hadn't seen the accident happen, ran to the escort
motor home — accompanying the pair on their trip — to get help.
As a another driver phoned police, the truck allegedly pulled in
front of the motor home, stopped briefly, then sped off along the
Trans-Canada, never to be seen again.
Belisle was taken to Plains Health Centre in Regina where she died
as a result of her injuries.
"I was working at the time and my dad came to work and told me
what had happened," said Belisle's son, Blaine, who was 18 and living
in Saskatoon when the accident occurred. "I just kind of lost it."
She's still also remembered by her partner at the time.
"It's been 12 years and I still miss her," said Rick Bruvold,
Belisle's partner of nine years. "She was a great gal."

http://www.discovermoosejaw.com/com...140:crimestoppers-still-serving-the-community
Jan.2013
rbbm.

Moose Jaw's CrimeStoppers chapter is Saskatchewan's oldest, as it was registered the day before Regina's. Lyle Johnson, who has served on the local CrimeStoppers Board since its inception 27 years ago, says handing out rewards to anonymous tipsters is always interesting.

"We have left rewards in mailboxes of abandoned houses, in garbage cans, in the [toilet] tank in the bathroom at the bus depot," he said. "In the mall, we arrange for a person to meet up at a certain time and say 'I'm Tipster642' and they give them an envelope. And it's always cash."

But, Johnson says, not all tipsters are in it for the money. For many people, CrimeStoppers is a way to report criminal activity without having to really get involved and, in some cases, attend court.

"Sometimes when we go to give them money they say there's no need. It's just a way to make their contribution, saying this is a crime that happened and the police go to investigate and solve it."

Moose Jaw CrimeStoppers has never given its maximum reward of $2,000, a reward that is typically reserved for tips that lead to an arrest for things like murders and major armed robberies. There is, however, a hefty reward waiting for a tip that leads to the resolution of the Nola Belisle case.

It was 16 years ago when Nola Belisle and one of her friends were walking from Moose Jaw to Regina as part of a fundraiser. A truck came too close and Nola was struck and killed near Pense. The truck kept going. The vehicle, its driver and passengers have never been located.

"There was three or four people in that vehicle," Johnson recalled. "Those people must have a burden in their hearts and at some point they're going to realize they have done something wrong."

Click to expand...

http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/Living/People/2007-05-18/article-14968/Still-unsolved-after-12-years/1