Comox Valley Record
October 2002

Police believe a young woman who at one point was schooled in the Comox Valley was one of the victims of accused killer Robert Pickton.

Sherry Irving

Pickton was charged with the murder of Sherry Irving last Wednesday, after DNA tests confirmed that her remains were found at Pickton’s pig farm, according to the RCMP.

Irving was 24 when she disappeared in 1997, according to police.

Most of the alleged murder victims led marginal lives on Vancouver’s east side, but a woman who went to school with Irving in the Comox Valley recalls her as "a fun, outgoing, beautiful girl with a smile that would melt many."

"She was generous and warm and we had a lot of fun," said the woman who asked that her name not be published.

The woman said she was in Grade 9 at Robb Road Junior School when Sherry Irving was in Grade 10 at Highland Secondary.

"We then went to Vanier together in 1990-91 for a period of time. We both caught the bus to Vanier together and would hang out after school on weekends and such," she said.

The woman said she nearly fell off her seat when she saw Sherry Irving’s picture on television news.

"That mug shot of a tired-looking young woman who had obviously had a hard time completely shocked me because that was Sherry ... my friend from long ago. Once vibrant and beautiful; still beautiful."

"Sherry was a troubled kid then, and she had her share of problems, but ... we all did, and to an extent, we still do ... it doesn’t matter what her problems were; she was a good person, very generous and fun, but unfortunately found the wrong path."

Pickton, 52, currently faces 15 counts of first degree murder, and the list of charges has grown steadily as investigators combed the pig farm for human remains.

The investigation is expected to last at least a year.

Police have tagged 63 missing women as possible victims, and are currently reviewing five more profiles of missing women.

The list of missing women dates back to 1978. but 38 of the 63 women disappeared within the past six years.

© Copyright 2002 Courtenay Comox Valley Record