Highway of Tears

Highway 16 is locally known as the Highway of Tears and relates to a series of unsolved murders and disappearances of young women. The road runs between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada. 19 victims have been identified but if the range is expanded it could be up to 40 cases but I will be sticking in the 19 case boundary.

In 2005 the RCMP launched E-Pana focusing on some of the unsolved murders and disappearances of female children and young women along Highway 16. They sought to discover if there was a single serial killer or multitudes of murders.

In 2009 the police were looking for the remains of Nicole Hoar as she went missing in 2002, they were also looking for other women at the property too. The whole thing was part of the ongoing missing/dead in the area. 25th September 2012 and as part of the ongoing investigations they reported that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police linked the death of Gale Weys and Pamela Darlington to a deceased US criminal, Bobby Jack Fowler. There are said to be other persons of interest in cases but to the age of some of them and lack of evidence they are not expecting charges to be made.

The cases have come under fire from the media and locals as there is a consensus amongst some parties that half are First Nation and that until Nicole Hoar there didn’t seem so much interest. Nicole was white Caucasian and seemingly was the catalyst for finally forming a link and actual case basis forming for them all.

I feel like the best way I can give up the sheer scale/concern about this is to simply list some of those victims…

The homicides are:

• 1969, Gloria Moody found in the woods. She was 26 years old.
• 1970, Micheline Pare was last seen on highway 30 after two women dropped her off. She was 18 years old.
• 1973, Gale Weys. Bobby Jack Fowler is the prime suspect, her body was found in a ditch. She was 19 years old.
• 1973, Pamela Darlington, Bobby Jack Fowler is the prime suspect, her body was found the day after she went missing. She was 19 years old.
• 1974, Monica Ignas, she went missing on her way home from school. She was found in 1975 and had been strangled. She was 14 years old.
• 1974, Colleen MacMillan was last seen near her friends house. Her body had the traces of Booby Jack Fowler on them. She was 16 years old.
• 1976, Coreen Thomas, aged 21 days from giving birth she was struck by Richard Redekop’s truck. He was convicted originally but then charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence.
• 1978 Mary Jane Hill, 31 years hold, Prince Rupert area and found nude along highway 16; cause of death recorded as bronchitis and bronchopneumonia as a result of manslaughter.
• 1981, Maureen Mosie’s body was found the next day by a dog-walker. She was 33 years old.
• 1989, Alberta Williams, her body was found after she had been strangled and sexually assaulted. She was 24 years old.
• 1990, Kimberly Dumais, tiny infant who died after a fire with four people inside. Law enforcement determined the blaze was set on purpose. An anonymous letter claimed responsibility. Other victims were Helga Rochon, Sherri Rochon and Pauline Rochon.
• 1994, Ramona Wilson’s remains were found in 1995. She was 16 years old.
• 1994, Ramona Thiara was working as a prostitute and told a friend that she was going with a customer. She was 15 years old.
• 1994, Alishia ‘Leah’ Germaine was found murdered 9th December, stabbed to death. She was 15 years old.
• 1999, Monica McKay murdered, last seen by friends 31^st December 1999, her body was left by a dumpster.
• 2001 Ada Elaine Brown, the family believe she was assaulted and killed by a man she knew. No charges were raised.
• 2004 Kayla Rose McKay, murdered near Prince Rupert unable to determine if she was murdered or it was suicide.
• 2004 Melanie Dawn Brown, 31 years old in the Prince George area and was found dead in a basement, gunshot wound.
• 2006, Aielah Saric Auger was found dead in a ditch after going missing. She was 14 years old.
• 2013 Tara Lee Ann Williams, 40 years old and found dead alongside Blaine Albert Barfoot police asking for anyone with information to come forwards.
• 2017 Robert (Robin) Marie Sims, 65 years old and RCMP report her own vehicle was used in her murder.
• 2020 Casandra Kale, 28 years old and police noted a dead woman in car with two other occupants. Police believe all three related to one another and foul play has not been ruled out.
• 2023, Chelsey Amanda Quaw, 29 years old, her remains where found 7^th November 2023 in a wooded area on the community’s territory.

Missing people are:

• 1970-1979, Tracey Clifton, went missing last seen Prince Rupert area walking Highway 16 after an argument with her mother.
• 1970, Helen Claire Frost, Prince George area and was reported missing after 2 days thinking she was at a friends house.
• 1983, Shelly-Ann Bascu went missing, near the Athasbasca river, personal items with blood drops matching her DNA were found. She was 16 at the time.
• 1989, Doreen Jack, 26rs old and last seen around Prince Rupert. Family went missing after taking a job with daycare.
• 1989 Cecillia Anna Nikal, 1989 she also had a cousin who was murdered a few years after she went missing.
• 1990, Delphine Nickal went missing in 13th June, she was hitchhiking east from the town of Smithers, she was 15 years old at the time.
• 1995, Lana Derrick was last seen in October that year. Fowler was in jail by then and so could not have been convicted for the crime. She was 19 years old.
• 2004 Margeret Nooski, 89 years old and missing from Fraser Lake, this poor lady was suffering from dementia and struggled to walk. RCMP think she may have got lost trying to get to Prince George.
• 2005, Tamara Chipman went missing when she was 25 years old.
• 2005 Mary Madaline George, from the Prince George area, she was last seen walking towards a clinic in Prince George.
• 2005 Tamara Lynn Chapman, 22 years old and went missing, search efforts from her family was not successful.
• 2007 Bonnie Marie Joseph, 32 years old and was due in court but never showed up. Her ID and belongings were found by a lake.
• Beverly Warbrick, went missing from 2100 block of Oak Street in Prince George.
• 2011, Madison Scott vanished near the road after going to a party. Her tent and truck were located but she is still missing. madisonscott.ca
• 2014 Anita Florence Thorne, 49 years old and reported missing, they found her car, with purse inside and unlocked.
• 2017 Frances Brown, 53 years old and went missing, last seen out picking mushrooms and police launched a large search. She is deaf in one ear.