And last year, thanks to news reports from Prince Rupert, a name surfaced that isnt on the list Mary Jane Hill from Kincolith. She was 31 when her body was found in 1978 20 miles east of Prince Rupert on Hwy16. At this time, police suspect foul play but the incident is still under investigation, a newspaper story at the time stated. Hills daughter, Vicki Hill, now 29, was six months old when her mom was found. She wants police to go back and look at the case in light of the other disappearances and deaths. Were aware of that and were going to wait until the review is completed to see if it fits in, said police spokesman of the Hill death.
The five jurors ruled the cause of death for Mary Jane, whose body was found 21 km east of Prince Rupert, was bronchitis and bronchopneumonia.
But the one-page document eerily adds: "We then find that the death of Mary Jane Hill as a result of manslaughter."
There are no further details. Vicki believes that someone left her mother on the highway to die.
Another similar Alberta case police looked at during the 1981 homicide conference was the murder of Pauline Brazeau, 16, who had moved to Calgary from Yorkton, Sask., in search of a new life for her nine-month-old daughter.
A month after her move, she and a friend visited a nearby pizza restaurant, departing about 2:30 a.m. But Brazeau returned alone to the restaurant 15 minutes later to retrieve a pair of gloves she left behind.
Her partially clothed body was found about five hours later on a forestry road near the Jumping Pound Airstrip, about 40 kilometres southwest of Cochrane. She had been stabbed to death.
Police believed she had either hitchhiked or was picked up by someone after leaving the restaurant.
The other Alberta case probed as having possible links with B.C. cases was that of Tara Jane White, 18, who was last seen July 1, 1976 in Calgary. White was heading to Lake Louise, where she had a summer job as a dining room waitress. She was a second-year science student at the University of Calgary.
Her skeletal remains were found almost five years later, on Mar. 24, 1981, in a shallow grave in a wooded area about 60 kilometres west of Calgary. Police believe White either accepted a ride to Banff/Lake Louise at the bus depot or she was picked up hitchhiking.
The fully-clothed body of Melissa Ann Rehorek, 20, was found Sept. 16, 1976, in a ditch along a gravel road about 20 kilometres west of Calgary near the Trans-Canada Highway. She had been strangled.
She was last seen leaving the Calgary YWCA, where she lived. She was planning on hitchhiking out of town for her two days off work from her job as a chambermaid at a local hotel.
The night of Feb. 26, 1977, 19-year-old MacLean had argued with her boyfriend and decided to hitchhike home.
The following morning, a man walking his dog discovered Barbaras fully-clothed, strangled body beside a gravel road near 80th Avenue and 6th Street N.E. in Calgary.
Police traced her movements the night before to the Highlander Hotel tavern, where she and her boyfriend had argued after closing time.
The daughter of a retired physician, MacLean was originally from Nova Scotia and had moved to Calgary, where she worked at the Royal Bank, the Calgary Herald newspaper reported after the murder.
Ha a 19-year-old Vietnamese refugee was found on Feb. 28, 1981, near Golden. She had been raped, strangled and her body mutilated after death.
The shy teen had come to Canada seven months earlier and landed a job as a chambermaid at a Banff hotel. Her body was found face down in the snow, a few metres from the Trans-Canada Highway, about 80 kilometres west of Golden, on the road to Kamloops, and 200 kilometres from Banff.
Elsie Friesen, a 34-year-old mother of three, was last seen on April 3, 1989 as a neighbour dropped her off at her home in Winfield, now known as the town of Lake Country.
The victim, who was known to hitchhike, was never seen again.
She was reported missing by her parents, Herta and Herman Hennings, who believed she had fallen victim to foul play.
Her skeletal remains were found May 20, 1991, beside Highway 33, east of Kelowna, in a wooded area by a drifter collecting bottles. The highway leads to the Big White ski resort. The killer had placed several large logs over the body. Cause of death could not be determined.
Helena Edna Tomat, 17, of Westbank, disappeared Oct. 27, 1989. She was last seen hitchhiking.
Her remains were found in September 1991 in some bushes on a lot beside a highway near Kelownas airport.
I lived in Canada in the seventies.... moved back to the USA in 1980. My best friend from Canada was Gabriella Zabradi. She visited me in the early 2000's. I have never heard from her again. Her poor mother told me over the phone in late 2000's that she was dating a trucker that drove thru Alberta, Saskatchewan, etc... and she hasn't heard from her since. Vanished. That would be about 12 years ago.....