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Vancouver police expand investigation into missing women
PETER MANSBRIDGE: In Vancouver, police have expanded their investigation into a disturbing case. It focuses on the disappearance of dozens of women from the city's downtown east side over a period of about twenty years. Darrow MacIntyre reports.
DARROW MACINTYRE (Reporter): Ernie Cray doesn't have much to remember his sister Dawn by other than a few old photos. As kids, they, along with seven other brothers and sisters, were taken from their mother and farmed out to foster homes throughout BC. Cray heard little about his little sister until a year ago when she became one of the latest women to join a list of missing women in a case that's baffled Vancouver police for years.
ERNIE CRAY (Brother of missing woman): I was concerned last year at about this time that the investigative efforts of the Vancouver city police had collapsed, that there wasn't any serious commitment to a continued investigation.
MACINTYRE: For years, family members have accused police of not taking the disappearances seriously enough because the missing women were almost all involved in prostitution and the drug trade on Vancouver's gritty east side. But last weekend, police summoned dozens of those family members to this hotel and told them the investigation is about to take on new energy.
CRAY: As I understand it, this was the first time they met with this many families at one time with a view in mind of bringing us up to date on the investigation.
MACINTYRE: Ernie Cray says families were told police are taking a new approach and putting more resources into the case.
CRAY: So when they told us those things, I left, personally left the meeting more comfortable, perhaps convinced for this time that these folks are serious about this investigation.
MACINTYRE: RCMP officers confirm they are about to start looking into new angles in the investigation and going back over some old work. But they're warning people not to get their hopes up too much.
CONSTABLE DANIELLE EFFORD (RCMP): This is a long-term project. It will take quite some time to review all the files.
MACINTYRE: In fact, police admit they are no closer today to finding out what happened to the missing women. But family who is attended this weekend's meeting say for the first time ever they're optimistic they may eventually get some answers. Darrow MacIntyre, CBC News, Vancouver.
Title: March in Vancouver for missing women
Guest:PETER MANSBRIDGE: A march today in parts of Vancouver most people avoid. Three-hundred people walked through the city's downtown east side. They were remembering thirty women gone missing or murdered here since 1986. Many of the women were native. They worked these streets as prostitutes. Their families and friends say police have given up on their cases.
Title: Reward for missing women.
Guest: TERRY MILEWSKI, Reporter
MAGGIE DeVRIES, Sister ofSarah DeVries
LIZ EVANS, Angie Jardine's friend
UNIDENTIFIEDPETER MANSBRIDGE: A 100 thousand dollar reward is being offered tonight in a case that has police in Vancouver stumped. Since 1995 nearly two dozen women have gone missing from the city's poorest neighbourhood. As Terry Milewski reports, there are growing fears it could be the work of a serial killer.
(FILE FOOTAGE) SARAH DeVRIES: This is heroin.
TERRY MILEWSKI: Sarah DeVries disappeared a year ago and no one has a clue what happened to her. But DeVries was well known in Vancouver's downtown east side. Six years ago she was on CBC describing how she became a prostitute to pay for her drug habit. She was addicted to heroin and cocaine and she had no illusions about her likely fate.
(FILE FOOTAGE) SARAH DeVRIES: There are three ways to go. You can go to jail, you can end up dead or you can end up being a lifer down here.
MILEWSKI: But being a "lifer" on the streets of the east side seems to be even more hazardous than she thought. In fact since 1995, 23 women including DeVries have simply disappeared without trace: No word to friends or family. Bank accounts untouched. In some cases, children left motherless. In all of these disappearances there seems to be no explanation. No bodies have been found, no evidence of any crime. But inevidently there is a suspicion out there that a serial killer is on the loose.
MAGGIE DeVRIES / SISTER OF SARAH DeVRIES: I think my sister has been murdered. And in many of other cases I feel the same after talking to their families.
MILEWSKI: The families and friends of the missing women agree that they would not just vanish, leaving all their belongings behind. Liz Evans runs a downtown hotel where one of them lived for six years: Angie Jardine. Evans is keeping Jardine's room just in case and says she always kept in touch.
LIZ EVANS / ANGIE JARDINE'S FRIEND: We saw her all the time. We always knew where she was. If she wasn't around for a couple of days we knew why she wasn't around for a couple of days. She's appear. Somebody would always see her. She was known by a lot of people. We were her friends and her family.
MILEWSKI: But many such friends and families felt the police were not taking the disappearances seriously enough. And in response, today the city and the province put up a 100 thousand dollar reward for information.
UNIDENTIFIED: Passed unanimously.
MILEWSKI: Even so, many of those close to the missing women believe it's too late. That they are not just missing. Terry Milewski, CBC News, Vancouver.
RCMP Cold Squad takes over Missing Women files
Last Updated: Feb 15 2001 6:32 PM EST
VANCOUVER - A special RCMP unit which reviews unsolved homicides will investigate the disappearance of 27 Vancouver women. The women disappeared from the city's Downtown Eastside over the past decade and are feared dead. Wednesday, members of B.C.'s Aboriginal community asked Vancouver police to step up their investigation into the cases.
At one time city police had nine officers working full time on the high profile "Missing Women" file.
Now that special task force is down three officers.
Vancouver police Constable Ann Drennan said the investigation remains active despite the reduced manpower.
Relatives of some of the women held an annual Valentine's Day march and service in Vancouver in memory of their missing family members.
Link: Missing women
Written by CBC News Online staff
Missing women task force downsized
Last Updated: Feb 14 2001 8:14 PM EST
VANCOUVER - Members of B.C.'s aboriginal community want Vancouver police to step up their search for native women who have vanished from Vancouver streets.
Nearly 30 women have disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in the past decade.
The most recent disappearance was that of Dawn Crey,quit itnow sister of Sto:lo chief Ernie Crey.
At one time Vancouver police had nine officers working full time on the high profile "Missing Women" file.
Now that special task force has been reduced to three officers.
Vancouver police Constable Ann Drennan says the investigation remains active despite the downsizing of the unit.
Relatives of some of the women held a march and service in Vancouver today in memory of their missing family members.
Link: Missing women
Written by CBC News Online staff
Serial killer suspected in disappearance of
Vancouver women
Last Updated: Wed May 26 12:40:29 1999
VANCOUVER - There's growing fear in Vancouver that a serial killer may be behind the mysterious disappearance of nearly two dozen women from the city's skid row.
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LINKS: Websites related to this story
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Missing persons reports from Vancouver Police Department·
Downtown eastside Vancouver a site dedicated to one of the missing women·
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window);To help solve the case that has stymied police, a $100,000 reward is being offered.
Since 1995, 23 women -- all of whom worked as prostitutes, and some of whom were intravenous drug addicts -- have simply disappeared without a trace, without word to friends or family, bank accounts untouched and, in some cases, children left motherless.
There seems to be no explanation -- no bodies found, no evidence of any crime. But there is a suspicion out there that a serial killer is on the loose.
Maggie Devries, the sister of one of the missing women, thinks the case adds up to murder. "I think my sister has been murdered," she told CBC News, "and in a lot of other cases I think the same, from talking to their families."
The families and friends feel police were not taking the disappearances seriously enough. In response, on Wednesday the city and the province put up the $100,000 reward for information.
Even so, many of those close to the missing women believe it's too late.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Missing women task force downsized
WebPosted Feb 14 2001 8:14 PM EST
VANCOUVER-- Members of B.C.'s aboriginal community want Vancouver police to step up their search for native women who have vanished from Vancouver streets.
Nearly 30 women have disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in the past decade.
The most recent disappearance was that of Dawn Crey, quit it now sister of Sto:lo chief Ernie Crey.
At one time Vancouver police had nine officers working full time on the high profile "Missing Women" file.
Now that special task force has been reduced to three officers.
Vancouver police Constable Ann Drennan says the investigation remains active despite the downsizing of the unit.
Relatives of some of the women held a march and service in Vancouver today in memory of their missing family members.
Copyright © 2001 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
Reward offered in case of missing women
Last Updated: Jul 27 1999 5:17 PM PDT
VANCOUVER - The number of women who have vanished from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside continues to grow. Four women were recently added to the list, bringing the total to 31.
Many people believe the disappearances can only be explained by a serial killer. Police insist they have no evidence to support that theory but they have teamed up with B.C.'s Attorney General and the Host of the television show "America's Most Wanted" to raise the public profile of the case, which continues to baffle authorities.
Publicly, police still maintain they have no proof a serial killer is preying on women in the Downtown Eastside. The women have been described as sex trade workers. Most of them have disappeared within the last four years. No bodies have ever been found, but the City of Vancouver, and the Attorney General's Office are now offering a $100-thousand reward for information on the missing women.
The case has now also drawn the attention of the television show "America's Most Wanted". "It's very unusual for 31 people no matter what they do, no matter what trade they're in, to disappear like that," said John Walsh, who hosts the show, which is in Vancouver shooting a segment on the missing women.
Walsh says his show has helped capture almost 600 fugitives in 30 different countries. He says the power of television, combined with the reward being offered in B.C., might just be enough to help police crack this case. The episode of "America's Most Wanted" that features the Vancouver case will air this Saturday.
Written by CBC News Online staff
RCMP Cold Squad takes over Missing Women files
WebPosted Feb 15 2001 6:32 PM EST
VANCOUVER-- A special RCMP unit which reviews unsolved homicides will investigate the disappearance of 27 Vancouver women. The women disappeared from the city's Downtown Eastside over the past decade and are feared dead. Wednesday, members of B.C.'s Aboriginal community asked Vancouver police to step up their investigation into the cases.
At one time city police had nine officers working full time on the high profile "Missing Women" file.
Now that special task force is down three officers.
Vancouver police Constable Ann Drennan said the investigation remains active despite the reduced manpower.
Relatives of some of the women held an annual Valentine's Day march and service in Vancouver in memory of their missing family members.
Copyright © 2001 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
Dock connection in missing women investigation
Last Updated: Jun 10 1999 9:32 AM PDT
VANCOUVER - Is there a connection between the women who are missing from Vancouver's downtown eastside, and the ships in Vancouver harbour?
CBC Television's Broadcast One reports that part of the police investigation into the disappearance of more than 20 women now focuses on the ships and freighters that visit the port.
Vancouver police constable Anne Drennan says police are going to talk with the different taxi companies. She says, "We're going to see whether or not they're aware of maybe any girls that were regulars going out into the harbour, that maybe they just suddenly didn't see ever again...any regular customers in terms of the freighters that are coming in and availing themselves of the girls...anything that might indicate that there is a pattern, either a pattern that's been established or a pattern that's been broken."
Police are distributing a poster through the downtown eastside, warning women not to go on any docked ships because help is not readily available. The city is offering a $100-thousand reward for information in the disappearances.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Looking for missing women
Last Updated: Jun 9 1999 9:28 AM PDT
VANCOUVER - A private investigation firm is joining the hunt for more than 20 women missing from Vancouver's downtown eastside.
Officials with Vancouver-based CPA Confidence Group Enterprises say they are developing a game plan to look for the sex-trade workers and addicts.
The disappearances have fuelled fears that one or more serial killers may be roaming the streets of the city's roughest area.
The company has 40 staff at hand, and has taken no retainer, but has its eye on a $100-thousand reward posted by Vancouver police.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Murder probe in dozens of missing women cases
Last Updated: Mon Oct 15 08:18:11 2001
VANCOUVER - The families of dozens of women missing in British Columbia say they are reassured that finally police are treating the cases as murders.
About 70 people met on Sunday with members of the Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP who are looking into the cases of 46 women who have disappeared in the past 20 years.
During that time, families have been frustrated with a lack of information about the police investigations into the women's fates.
"It's a homicide investigation now," said Kathleen Hallmark, whose daughter is among the missing. "So at least it's not just us screaming killers, and homicide, and they're gone, and they're dead.
"At least we're hearing it from the other side."
What they heard, finally, on Sunday, was that the police had decided to treat the disappearances of 31 women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside – a grungy area known for prostitution and drug use – as murders.
Police have also decided to include another 15 cases from the rest of British Columbia in the investigation.
The police brought together the families on Sunday to offer an update on the status of their investigations.
"It is incumbent upon the police to maintain contact with the family, and here we are," said RCMP Sgt. Wayne Clary.
But the update wasn't encouraging. Most victims remain missing, no crime scenes have been isolated and there are as many as 600 suspects.
Written by CBC News Online staff
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