CANADA Canada - Joanna Pedersen, 10, Chilliwack, BC, 19 Feb 1983

[Sillybilly]

Thank you for your efforts greeneyedgirl !!

Just a bit of background on why I'm interested in a possible Alberta connection in Joanna's case ...

For a very long time, i've had a POI in the missing/murdered women in western Canada. That poi has a connection to an area southeast of Edmonton (as per the Project KARE profile). I've made a connection between that individual and the Karen Ewanciw case, and a connection between that same poi to Clifford Olsen's grandparents. I know that Olsen was in jail at the time of Joanna's disappearance, but I'm not discounting that he may have had associates of the same ilk. IF the Pedersens of Chilliwack have a connection to that same area southeast of Edmonton, (and I HAVE found the Pedersen surname in that area), it would be just one more coincidence (?) that seems to tie my poi into numerous cases.

Although i'm having difficulty finding a definite genealogical connection, i have reason to believe that my poi could be related to Olsen. As much as the country breathed a sigh of relief at the slimeball's recent demise, it is sad that Olsen may have had a lot of information that he took with him to the grave.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

*bump* for JoAnna, missing 29 years today.

Jo-Anne Pedersen - Missing for 25 years - YouTube

 

[Lilachaze]

I haven’t heard of this case before. I hope the letters aren’t a hoax and the family can find out what happened to their little girl.

 

[Sillybilly]

Bobby JackFowler (deceased convict who is believed responsible for the murder of Colleen McMillen) sure looks like the composite that was released in Joanna's case.

Don't know why that old composite isn't widely available on the internet. Only place I can see it is through google images which brings it up on the unsolved site (where i absolutely refuse to go )

 

[Sillybilly]

I haven’t heard of this case before. I hope the letters aren’t a hoax and the family can find out what happened to their little girl.

The letters are intriguing Lila ... after all these years, it seems there is still someone out there who wants to bring attention to the case (or to themselves?). IMO, they aren't that interested in having the case solved, or they would have responded to LE's appeal to contact them. They seem more interested in bringing the case back into the limelight.

JMO

 

[Sillybilly]

1983 composite of Jo-Anna's abductor:

Bobby Jack Fowler

 

[Sillybilly]

Just some observations on the sample of the 2011 letter received ..

The writer uses caps on the envelope, but does not capitalize the letter "i". Also, in the word Chilliwack, the writer leaves out the second "i", but inserts a large dot in its place. They also write "B.C." when it is more commonly "BC".

Do any of our WSrs know if it is common for folks to write the letter as "i" when using caps for all other letters?

 

[CastlesBurning]

I never heard of this case before, but as my name is also Joanna, it piqued my interest...

The initial case account says that there were several witnesses, ones who described the man that was seen around Joanna. If they saw that much, did they ever say what else happened? I mean, was Joanna calm, as though she were speaking to a man she were familiar with and didn't think was a threat? Or was she upset or frightened? If the witnesses were able to recall the man with her in the first place, it makes me think there was something about the situation that gave them pause.

 

[Sillybilly]

Hi Castles !! Glad you are here in Joanne's thread.

IIRC (can't find it right now) the man had been in line ahead of her at the store, so possibly the clerk had a good recollection of what he looked like.

from:
http://www.theprogress.com/news/129890723.html

The store clerk let Pedersen use the store phone, but she didn’t know the telephone number where her mother was, so she went outside to call the operator on a pay phone.

She talked to her stepfather, but when he and her mother arrived at the Penny Pincher about half an hour later, Jo-Anne was nowhere to be seen.

The parents were at the Legion. The above article indicates Joanne spoke with her stepfather, but another article states the man took the phone from her and spoke with the stepfather:

from:
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=7b082849-8f39-407d-b331-8496cf7f4dab

At about 8:20 p.m., a call was made from the phone booth to the Legion. Media reports from the time indicate a man spoke to Joanne's stepfather on the phone, asking him to pick up his daughter.

from:
http://doenetwork.org/cases/377dfbc.html

She was speaking to her parents when a man took the phone and told her parents that he would call the police if the girl was not picked up by them in 30 minutes

It's always bothered me that all 3 of her names are spelled with so many variations (Joanne, Jo-Anne, Jo-Anna, Marie/Maria, Pederson/Pedersen). It's only been 30 years for crying out loud ... why do we not know the correct spelling of her name? (ok ... rant over for now)

 

[Sillybilly]

30 years ago today

Mystery: Disappearance of 10-year-old Jo-Anne Pedersen hits 30-year mark

http://www.theprovince.com/news/fra...ne+Pedersen+hits+year+mark/7985016/story.html

Why wouldn't the Chilliwack RCMP detachment have a video capture of the person who dropped off the letter in 2011?

 

[Hilda Swenson]

IIRC (can't find it right now) the man had been in line ahead of her at the store, so possibly the clerk had a good recollection of what he looked like.

from:
http://www.theprogress.com/news/129890723.html

The parents were at the Legion. The above article indicates Joanne spoke with her stepfather, but another article states the man took the phone from her and spoke with the stepfather:

from:
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=7b082849-8f39-407d-b331-8496cf7f4dab

What was Joanna's conversation with her stepfather about? Is the Legion in Canada like the Post in the US where vets hang around to socialize and have a few drinks?

Was Joanna trying to call her parents looking for a ride home but had to call information from a payphone outside to get the Legion number? How far away from the Penny Pincher did she live? Within walking distance?

Going out on a total and possibly unrelated limb here but:

If I witnessed a 10 year old kid alone in public and trying to call someone for a ride home and not being able to get a hold of anyone I'd be really ticked off. Really ticked off that someone would leave their child so vulnerable. I certainly would not abduct the child but I might want to stay with them until someone got there and they were safe. Maybe the mustached guy had a different take on things. Maybe he thought the parents were a danger to her or didn't deserve to have her or God knows what he thought but is this a possibility?

She's most likely alive somewhere.

 

[moondust]

Wow, the composite of Jo-Anne's abductor looks frighteningly similar to Bobby Jack Fowler. I hope she's alive somewhere (although I sadly think that's unlikely) and that she wasn't abducted by that total creep. Or any creep.

 

[Sillybilly]

What was Joanna's conversation with her stepfather about? Is the Legion in Canada like the Post in the US where vets hang around to socialize and have a few drinks?

Was Joanna trying to call her parents looking for a ride home but had to call information from a payphone outside to get the Legion number? How far away from the Penny Pincher did she live? Within walking distance?

Going out on a total and possibly unrelated limb here but:

If I witnessed a 10 year old kid alone in public and trying to call someone for a ride home and not being able to get a hold of anyone I'd be really ticked off. Really ticked off that someone would leave their child so vulnerable. I certainly would not abduct the child but I might want to stay with them until someone got there and they were safe. Maybe the mustached guy had a different take on things. Maybe he thought the parents were a danger to her or didn't deserve to have her or God knows what he thought but is this a possibility?

She's most likely alive somewhere.

Yes, the Legion is the social club as you describe.

Don't know the specifics of the call, but it seems while she and her sister and cousin (iirc) were out and about, she'd had a tiff with them and when they returned home, the others locked her out of the house. I suppose she was just talking with her stepdad to find out what to do and when her parents were coming home.

I don't know where the house was in relation to the Penny Pincher store, but seems it was close enough for her to walk to, so i don't think she was necessarily looking for a ride home.

Given that she seemed to live close to the store (i.e. not a 30 minute walk or drive), i think Mr Mustachio could have simply given her a lift home if he was that concerned about her safety, or as he threatened, called the police. It seems he did neither. Yeah, whatever his "justification", it exists only in his own mind.

ETA: Sorry, just checking back in the recent link I provided, and it does say she called her parents "to pick her up because she was locked out of the house". Another older article refers to the store being "nearby":

http://www.theprogress.com/news/129890723.html

 

[Sillybilly]

Wow, the composite of Jo-Anne's abductor looks frighteningly similar to Bobby Jack Fowler. I hope she's alive somewhere (although I sadly think that's unlikely) and that she wasn't abducted by that total creep. Or any creep.

As much as the composite and Fowler look so much alike, it wouldn't be Fowler writing the recent letters because he died in 2006. I wonder if it could be someone who knew Fowler.

Bugs me, because a POI of mine (not necessarily in this case, but i consider him in a few cases just based on a lot of coincidences) .. he stayed at a motel just a couple of blocks from the Chilliwack RCMP within the last couple of years, but for the life of me, i can't recall when.

I've looked at the handwriting and can't rule my poi in but can't rule him out either. I only have one very tiny sample of his handwriting on lined paper (the letter to RCMP is on lined paper, but i suppose that's not all that uncommon) ... first impressions say they are not the same, but the small "i" has piqued my interest. That's why i was asking peeps upthread if it was common for folks to write in caps but use a small "i".

 

[Sillybilly]

Sheesh, I just had a brainwave wrt finding the date my poi was in Chilliwack. I just remembered a case I was interested in at the time because he was at the motel nearby the detachment when a woman's body was found a couple of blocks away. Foul play was ruled out in her death, but it was in July 2010 that she had disappeared and was found.

The recent news article says 3 letters have been received since 2008, but I can only recall previous mention of 2. I don't think/know if there were any in 2010, but now that i've come up with that date, I'll go back through this case and see what I can find wrt letters/dates.

If that article was correct wrt 3 letters received since 2008, that should mean one in 2008, one in 2011, and a third one date unknown ????

 

[Sillybilly]

Handwriting of letter received by Chilliwack RCMP between 2:00 pm August 29 and August 31 2011:

Just an observation, but it looks as if the envelope and the letter are written by two different people. The printing on the envelope looks fluid, while the writing in the letter is not.

 

[Sillybilly]

From article regarding the letter that was received in 2008:

But investigators are especially keen to learn more about an unsigned letter, containing key information, which claims to be from the moustached man who tried to help Jo-Anne at the pay phone.

The exact details and contents of this letter cannot be disclosed, say police.
"The person who wrote this letter knows what it said. Investigators need to speak to this person," the RCMP statement said.

<bbm>

full article:
http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=8ad71839-9491-43f9-a6fb-886546298333&sponsor=

 

[Sillybilly]

Reposting link to Joanne's disappearance from doenetwork:

http://doenetwork.org/cases/377dfbc.html

The unidentified man was described as approximately 20 to 30 years old, 5'6" to 5'7", slim to medium build, light to dark colored hair that was below the ears, clean shaven and wearing a dark jacket.

Witnesses also describe a vehicle associated with the man, a two-door white- or cream-coloured domestic car from the early- to mid-70s with a dark Landau roof.

The man who is believed to have written these letters would now be approx 50 to 60 years old.

 

[allison78ca]

I used to live across the street and right where beside that pay phone was a run down house. Rumour had it that some perverted man lived there. I'm assuming the police enquired about her at that residence. This was about 10 years after her disappearance that that man lived there. Not sure if he was there in 1983

 

[allison78ca]

Good grief. Hope you could make out what I just typed. Lol a few typos!