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Sister still searching
Courtesy of Maple Ridge News, 23 June 2001
By Roxanne Hooper
Monday will mark four years since Sandra Gagnon has heard from her sister.
Janet Gail Henry was one of more than 30 women who went missing from the
downtown eastside of Vancouver during the past several years.
Gagnon’s commitment to find her sister has never waned. If anything, the loss
of her other sister Dorothy this spring renewed her motivation to find out what
happened to Henry.
Henry disappeared from an East Hastings hotel. Gagnon said Henry, then 36, had a
drinking and drug problem, numerous health problems and may have been involved
in prostitution. But in the weeks before she disappeared, she had spoken
regularly with her older sister Gagnon of her efforts to quit drinking and plans
to return to school and straighten out her life.
As a tribute to Henry and the other missing prostitutes, Gagnon will be laying
flowers at a memorial bench at Crab Park (at the bottom of Main Street) on
Monday morning.
"I want to show Janet and all the other women that I am thinking of
them," she said. "My way of coping is to bring my sister pretty
flowers. I want to give her flowers so she knows she is in my heart. It’s my
way of showing Janet that I love her."
A year ago, the Vancouver Police issued a poster with photographs of 31 women
from the Vancouver’s downtown eastside. It announced the offering of a
$100,000 reward and received some publicity from U.S. media including the
popular America’s Most Wanted.
There’s been some speculation a serial killer is responsible for the
disappearance of the women, and Gagnon agrees: "I really do believe there’s
a serial killer because there’s so many women missing."
She vows to continue her search.
"I don’t want the story of the missing women to be forgotten because all
of these women are important," Gagnon said. "I will continue to speak
out and take action until we bring my sister and the other women back."
For more information or pictures of all the missing women, visit www.missingpeople.net
Janet Gail Henry
Missing Women Memorial-June 25, 2001 | |
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