A bit of background on the missing and murdered women in Edmonton, dubbed "The Killing Fields:"
Since 1983, the bodies of 20 women have been found in the Edmonton area. JoAnn McCartney, a retired vice cop on the Edmonton police force who now runs a program to help women who work on the streets, said the voluntary DNA collection is used only for identification, not to aid any other police enforcement.
"It's to identify you so your family has some closure. And the faster we can do that, the quicker we can ask questions about your most recent activities and start the investigation," she said.
In Edmonton, Thomas Svekla, a 39-year-old former tire store worker, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Theresa Innes and Rachel Quinney. But that has provided little reassurance to women who work on the streets. Police believe more than one person is responsible for the murders.
http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news..._killer_preying_on_prostitutes.html?referrer=
Since 1997, at least 12 female bodies, most of them sex-trade workers, have been dumped in local fields and ditches. A few more bodies dating back to 1988 were discovered, but police have yet to give a definite number of the murder cases linked to the area.
Even the discovery last month of a female body in a ditch on the city's northern edges further frayed nerves here, though it was widely assumed the body was that of a missing 29-year-old pregnant woman. "Not again," was the worried collective refrain before Liana White was positively identified and her husband quickly charged with the murder.
It has been a month and a half since an RCMP-led task force probing dozens of unsolved homicides went public with what has long been suspected: a male serial killer is at work.
The task force, which has been dubbed Project Kare, is officially investigating 41 unsolved murders, which date as far back as the 1930s, but officers will not say how many of those cases they believe are connected to the serial killer.
Fifty full-time officers are on the case, which is morphing into one of the most complicated investigations in the province's history. The province has spent $6.3-million on the task force, which began operating in November 2003. Members are using a sophisticated computer-tracking system to sort through clues and tips.
Not much has been said about whom the police think they are looking for. Officers have divulged only that they suspect he has a connection to the rural area east of Edmonton; that he likes to hunt, camp, fish or farm; that he drives an SUV or truck; and that he may clean his vehicle often or at odd hours.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ds-of-edmonton/article1122521/?service=mobile
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That last article is really thorough and worth the read. There is also a thread here in Websleuths:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...issing-amp-Murdered-women-of-Edmonton-Alberta