Highway of Tears article w/crimemap

[Rle7]

TIPSTERS who have possible leads about the missing women along Hwy16 are critical of how police handle their information.

"Some feel that they are not getting the correct response," said Surrey private investigator Ray Michalko, who was here recently to follow up on leads he received after advertising for information.

One woman, said Michalko, found a tree planting shovel leaning against a tree while hiking in a heavily wooded area between Hwy16 and the Skeena River. She returned home to call police immediately as she believed the shovel could've belonged to Nicole Hoar, the treeplanter who disappeared while hitchhiking just west of Prince George in 2002.

"Not only was she not allowed to personally talk to a police officer, but her call was dismissed outright, by the civilian employee that answered the telephone," Michalko said.

He determined the shovel didn't belong Hoar.

Michalko also said a man called police after seeing a vehicle similar to one described as being of interest in the case of one missing woman, only to be told by the civilian employee who answered the phone that the particular detachment he called was not handling the case and that he should call a long-distance number of another detachment to relay the information. The man called the number, left messages on the answering machine and still hasn't heard back from police four years later, the investigator continued.

"There's more examples like that," Michalko said, adding that these two people seemed to be "normal, honest people."

http://www.terracestandard.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=33&cat=23&id=662576&more=

 

[Rle7]

Meanwhile, Mattie Wilson, the mother of Ramona Wilson who disappeared near Smithers on July 10, 2004 and whose remains were found on April 10, 1995, said relations with the RCMP have vastly improved since the Highway of Tears Symposium at the end of March in Prince George.

“They’re working closely with us, which I’ve wanted to see for a long time,” she said.

That new partnership will be continued at a followup meeting between the families of the missing and slain women and RCMP on June 15 in Prince George at the Ramada Inn.

“Some families have expressed dissatisfaction with the Prince George location, because they feel that the majority of the women have gone missing from areas west of Smithers and the meeting should be held in a more central location, related to the actual locations of the disappearances,” Michalko said.

But Wilson is just relieved to have the channels of communication opened up.

“I feel it’s ok with me,” she said.

“I don’t know about those who have a hard time traveling.”

To alleviate some of that burden, the government is picking up the traveling expenses for the families.

At the March symposium, Dahl Chambers, Prince George RCMP superintendent, promised action but said the police need help.

“Our hope is the symposium will draw attention to these tragedies,” he said.

“It’s through public participation that these [cases] are solved, not some magic bullet in the sky.”

Both Michalko and the RCMP continue to urge people to come forward with any information no matter how trivial it may seem. For those that have a problem going to the police, Michalko promised 100 per cent confidentiality.

“The whole premise here is that people can be guaranteed that they can talk to me in confidence,” he said.

Holland doesn’t much care how the tips come in as long as they do. “There’s information on these crimes out in the public,” he said. “One way or another we need to get that information.”

http://www.interior-news.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=31&cat=23&id=663092&more=

 

[Rle7]

The Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendations Report contains 33 recommendations to prevent additional women and girls from disappearing along Highway 16, called “The Highway of Tears.”

The report is dedicated to Aielah Saric-Auger, Tamara Chipman, Nicole Hoar, Lana Derrick, Alisha Germaine, Roxanne Thiara, Ramona Wilson, Delphine Nikal and Cicilia Anne Nikal who all were murdered or went missing along the highway between 1989 and 2006.

However the report estimates as many as 30 women may have been murdered or gone missing over the last 35 years.

The report identifies a victim profile and makes recommendations in the areas of victim prevention, emergency planning and team readiness, victim counseling and support, and community development and support.

The victims were young women or girls aged 14 to 25, with the large majority being aboriginal.

The majority of the victims disappeared while hitchhiking along Highway 16 between spring and fall.

Poverty and the remoteness of small aboriginal communities are considered contributing factors to the number of aboriginal women hitchhiking along the highway.

One of the key recommendations in victim prevention is the creation of a shuttle bus service along the 742 km highway to offer young women an alternative to hitchhiking. Other than the Greyhound Bus Line which runs twice daily, there is no public transportation available along the highway.
In addition, RCMP detachments should be given extra resources to patrol the highway and stop to talk with any hitchhiker meeting the victim profile. Victims should be encouraged to take some other form of transportation.

http://www.pgfreepress.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=26&cat=23&id=675294&more=

 

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Symposium Recommendations

 

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http://www.highwayoftears.piczo.com/?cr=1&rfm=y

 

[Rle7]

Every spring when the snow melts, Sally Gibson organizes a search team to look for her niece, Lana Derrick, who went missing in October 1995. "It's a ritual," she says. Once the weather warms up, Gibson gathers her friends and encourages them to walk the desolate roads behind her house.

She's not alone. Families all along Canada's Highway 16 -- a 425-mile stretch of road that cuts through pine forests, rivers and remote Indigenous reserves in central British Columbia -- are searching for their missing loved ones. There was Delphine Nikals who went missing in 1990; Ramona Wilson who disappeared in 1994; and last year, Tamara Chipman disappeared.

The families have dubbed the road the "Highway of Tears," and Amnesty International estimates that 32 aboriginal Canadian women have gone missing in the last three decades along the highway, which runs from Prince Rupert to Prince George.

Highway Of Tears Documentary

 

[Rle7]

Many years before it was called the highway of tears, before there were symposiums, before there was media attention and concerned politicians, there was a six-month-old baby without a mother.

The baby, now 29-year-old Vicki Hill, grew up knowing that her mother was killed on Highway 16 and the killer was never found.

In 2004, with the help of RCMP victim-support services, Ms. Hill was able to obtain the coroner's report about her mother's death.

She also found an article at the public library in the Prince Rupert Daily News from 1978 that detailed what little the police knew and all Ms. Hill knows today.

The body of 31-year-old Mary Jane Hill of Kincolith, B.C., was found on Highway 16, 30 kilometres east of Prince Rupert.

Ms. Hill grew up with her father's side of the family, who never talked about her mother's death. It wasn't until several years ago when she attended a wedding that she saw what her mother looked like.

"I was given a small black-and-white photograph of her by my mom's sister," she said. "Everyone says I look like her."

Her mother's unsolved killing is an example of a number of incidents that predate the public attention to the highway of tears.

Ms. Hill believes these need to be investigated because they could provide a link with the crimes of the past decade and a half where an inexperienced killer may have made a mistake.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060916.BCHIGHWAY16/TPStory/National

 

[Rle7]

The 2nd annual Take Back The Highway march gets underway today (9/16/2006) in Prince George, and as a result of participant feedback, the event has undergone some changes this year, says coordinator Sarah Boyd-Noel.

One of the most important changes is that men are welcome to participate in this year’s march, says Boyd-Noel. The march wished to be inclusive, and it was recognized that male family members would wish to take part as well.

The goal of the march is to raise awareness about violence against women, especially Aboriginal women, and to honour the memory of the women and girls who have been murdered or gone missing along Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert. The stretch of highway has become known as the Highway of Tears, and reports suggest up to 30 women and girls have gone missing or been murdered along it since 1974.

http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/3541/3/time+to+take+back+the+highway

 

[Rle7]

A private investigator looking into the cases of murdered and missing women along Hwy 16 is bristling at the suggestion he is not cooperating with police.

Staff Sgt. John Ward, an RCMP communications officer, said Ray Michalko has been warned not to reveal information and to share any leads he picks up.

“We have been in contact with the private investigator and he understands very clearly that should he have information that someone comes forward with... he should be giving us a call and we expect that to happen should he uncover something,” said Ward.

Michalko, who has been collecting leads along the highway, now dubbed the Highway of Tears, plans to come to Smithers this month to talk with tipsters and five people of interest who he believes may be able to lead him toward the solution to the decades-old mystery of who has been abducting and murdering women along the highway between Prince George and Prince Rupert. “If this gentleman, Mr. Michalko, says he’s got five people of interest then we certainly want to know who they are and we’ll take it from there,” Ward said.

http://www.interior-news.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=31&cat=23&id=741641&more=

 

[Rle7]

When one Prince George woman looks back on her life, she realizes how lucky she is to still be around to share her experiences.

Jacqui Ketlo, a petite Native woman who stands less than five feet tall, did a fair amount of hitchhiking when she was young and sometimes found herself in high-risk situations.

Now after anguishing over the losses of female hitchhikers along Highway 16 West, the so-called Highway of Tears, the 47-year-old has come forward to share her stories as a way to warn others about the dangers of hitchhiking.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/news/current/n_empty.php?sid=1348417

 

[blaize]

This almost sounds less like a single killer and more like culture of thought that its ok to treat certain people as throw aways to be used and thrown away and that a certain area along a certan road is the traditional and acceptable dumping ground, sort of like out in some rural areas that people come to know is where you go to dump trash that you don't want anymore.

Uuughh the whole Highway of Tears thing is like something out of a horror movie. It seems though that a culture of disposable people could have existed that allowed a serial killer or killers to operate with impunity.

I think it's interesting that more victims are being found as time goes on & would be very interested to know if any other stretch of highway has as horrible a reputation as this one deservedly has?

blaize

 

[Rle7]

Uuughh the whole Highway of Tears thing is like something out of a horror movie. It seems though that a culture of disposable people could have existed that allowed a serial killer or killers to operate with impunity.

I think it's interesting that more victims are being found as time goes on & would be very interested to know if any other stretch of highway has as horrible a reputation as this one deservedly has?

blaize

The Trans-Canada highway running through the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia had a similar series of killings in the 1970's and early 1980's. The killer(s) in these cases didn't seem to care about the victim's race. These murders remain unsolved:

http://www.crimezzz.net/serialkillers/C/CANADA_HIGHWAY_murders.php

 

[blaize]

The Trans-Canada highway running through the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia had a similar series of killings in the 1970's and early 1980's. The killer(s) in these cases didn't seem to care about the victim's race. These murders remain unsolved:

http://www.crimezzz.net/serialkillers/C/CANADA_HIGHWAY_murders.php

Such a grim tale. Perhaps a dreadful truth is echoed in the last paragraph of the entry at your link. (Source)

A ray of hope broke through in 1983, with the marathon confessions of serial slayers Henry Lucas and Ottis Toole including references to "several" Canadian victims, but no charges have been filed to date, and the slayings remain unsolved.

We can only hope that the Highway Of Tears killings won't be swallowed into the same limbo.

blaize

 

[Rle7]

Such a grim tale. Perhaps a dreadful truth is echoed in the last paragraph of the entry at your link. (Source)

A ray of hope broke through in 1983, with the marathon confessions of serial slayers Henry Lucas and Ottis Toole including references to "several" Canadian victims, but no charges have been filed to date, and the slayings remain unsolved.

We can only hope that the Highway Of Tears killings won't be swallowed into the same limbo.

blaize

Serial killer Clifford Olson was also a suspect for the Highway Murders. It's interesting to note that after Olson was incarcerated for good in 1981, the Highway Murders stopped:



In less than nine months Olson killed 11 times. There were also four other suspected murder victims for which he was not tried: Verna Bjerky, 17, was reported missing from Hope/Yale area and not located as of 7-30-81; Pamela Darlington, Kamloops, B.C.; Monica Jack, Quilchena, B.C.; Marney Jamieson, Gibsons, B.C.

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/olson/19.html

It's certainly possible that another psychopath/sexual predator like Olson is active on the Highway of Tears.

 

[Rle7]

Many people have talked about the missing and murdered women along Highway 16, the so-called Highway of Tears. But Prince George musician and song writer Ray Bessette was moved to sing about it. Bessette has been playing music and writing songs for many years. The stories about the missing women and the Highway of Tears gave him inspiration to write about them.

Three years ago, Bessette was reading the morning newspaper and saw a picture of Nicole Hoar, a tree planter who disappeared one summer while on her way back to work. He was so moved by the story that he wrote a song “Please Come Home” to express his feelings for the victims. Later Bessett and his friend Brent Brekkaas co-wrote a song titled “Highway of Tears” in response to Tamara Chipman’s disappearance. They partnered with Tony Romeyn, the founder of The Highway of Tears website, and together they started working on projects to create public awareness and education. Since Bessette’s passion is music, he wanted to use music as the channel for awareness.

http://www.pgfreepress.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=26&cat=46&id=798365&more=

 

[Rle7]

RCMP say they will conduct an investigation to see where Thomas Svekla, of Ft Saskatchewan was when a number of women disappeared along the Highway 16 corridor in this province.

Svekla is charged in the deaths of two prostitutes in the Edmonton Alberta area.

Svekla was originally charged with murder in connection with the death of 36 year old Teresa Ennes whose body was found stuffed in a hockey bag at a residence occupied by Svekla.

He has now been charged with murder in connection with the death of street worker Rachel Quinney, 19 whose body was discovered by Svekla, who informed police.

Both women were from the Edmonton area and police say, as a matter of routine, they now will piece together where Svekla was during the time that a number of women disappeared from cities and towns along Highway 16 , which now has been dubbed the "Highway of Tears".

http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view...s+investigators

 

[Lurker Steve]

I wonder if this could be someone from one of the First Nations. They wouldn't look out of place in the areas where these women are from. Someone who was white would have stood out like a sore thumb.

 

[Rle7]

14-year-old Aielah Saric-Auger, a student at DP Todd Secondary, was last seen on the evening of February 2, 2006. Her body was found eight days later on the side of Highway 16-East, near of Tabor Mountain.

Prince George RCMP Constable Gary Godwin says there is nothing new to report in the investigation on this day. Godwin says he’s had no update from plain clothes officers investigating the young teen’s murder.

It was the disappearance and death of Saric-Auger that galvanized people and communities along Highway 16-West to come together and try to do something, in light of the many women who’ve gone missing along that stretch of road over the past decade.

http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/4812/3/today+marks+one+year+since+teen's+disappearance

 

[Rle7]

It has been just over a year since Aielah Saric-Auger was last seen alive by her family.

After eight days of frantic searching, her body was discovered Feb. 10, 2006 on the side of Highway 16 near Tabor Mountain. She was 14 years old.

Very few details of the subsequent investigation have been made public, but Prince George RCMP stress the search for the killer is on in earnest.

"The Prince George detachment serious crime unit with support from North District general investigation section and the (E-Division) major crime unit will continue to investigate all leads in relation to the murder of Aielah Saric-Auger," said Sgt. Paul Strader, one of the lead investigators.

One of the only details to publicly emerge was the need for the police to speak with an unknown woman that came to their attention. With little more than some public information and an artist's sketch that ran in the media, that woman was found. Although she was ruled out as having any association to the case, Prince George RCMP spokesman Const. Gary Godwin hopes the public sees that as a sign from the police that behind the scenes, they are working the leads with vigour.

"There is always a lot of forensic evidence, and there is the media side of it where we ask the public to call in any information they may have," Godwin said. "Running down the leads we get always means a lot of legwork as you bring those tips, no matter how small, to their logical conclusion. And there is also a lot of forensics work."

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/news/current/n_empty.php?sid=1401901

 

[Rle7]

British Columbia's so-called Highway of Tears may soon have 10 billboards along its stretch warning female hitchhikers not to retrace the steps of the women who've gone missing there.

Prince George Mayor Colin Kinsley said his council approved the billboards Monday night and the regional district will consider the issue Friday night.

"It's a compelling image and if it stops hitchhiking, that's one important goal, although we also need to look at car-pooling and other options," said Kinsley.

Joanne Monaghan, who has championed the project, says the goal of the billboards, slated to go up along the 724-kilometre stretch of highway from Prince Rupert to Prince George is to prevent hitchhiking and provide a stark reminder of what happened to the missing and dead women found there.

The billboard, based on a painting by artist Tom McHarg, is of a young woman "thumb in the air" surrounded by a fading row of crosses, with the snow, rain or tears falling and the ghosts of those who have gone before, trying to restrain her from getting in the car.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=f7bcd93a-cf3d-4c59-9ec3-716e2e2607a1&k=85645