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"It would be nice for us to have closure. If she's alive it would be nice to see her again. And if she's gone, it would be nice to put her to rest and have a feast and put a marker up."
Still missing, and missed, after 40 years
Helen Claire Frost’s case is not included in the Highway of Tears investigation
By LORI CULBERT, VANCOUVER SUN Dec 15, 2009
"DORCAS GAIL SHORSON, aged 24, of Surrey BC was last seen April 2, 2005 when she left the family home on Larner Road.
Shorson is described as aboriginal, five feet five inches tall, 131 pounds with red hair and brown eyes. She was wearing jeans and a blue coat when last seen.
Police say the missing woman is likely a sex-trade worker in Vancouver or Surrey and is taking drugs.
"We're worried about her because she is in a line of work that is very risky," said Surrey RCMP Cpl. Diane Blain.
"We are hoping that people will have eyes and ears for her out there and that they can call us to say that she is safe."
SURREY: On April 14, 2005, 24-year-old Dorcas Gail SHORSON, known as Gail, was reported missing by her mother. Her mother has not seen her daughter since April 2, 2005 when Gail left her home in the 13600 block of Larner Road. Gail?s three young children are currently being cared for by their grandmother. Gail is known to use drugs and it is likely she is either in Surrey or Vancouver working as a sex trade worker.
Dorcas aka Gail is described as a First Nations female, 5? 5? (165 cm) in height and weighing 131 lbs (59 kg). She has red hair and brown eyes. A photo can be viewed at www.rcmp-bcmedia.ca She was last seen wearing jeans and a blue coat.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of this person, or if you see her, please contact the Surrey RCMP at 604 599-0502, or, if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-Tips.
"Gunning is described as five-foot-two and weighing 111 pounds when she disappeared, police said in a release. Knott is five-foot-one and weighed 121 pounds."
"They told friends that day they would be heading to either Fort St. John or the Dawson Creek area, and that's the last known contact anyone has had with them, Oakes said"
These two girls probably did not know each other but were thought to have hitchhiked together after meeting up at the West Edomonton Mall and were last seen together on Feb 18th 2005.
Fort St. John is North of Highway 16 and is near the Highway 97, which joins up with Hwy 16. There are other Native women missing from this area around the same time. I really think this is and was an epidemic.
Rene Gunning, 22
Krystal Knott, 19
Police have stated that these girls were not working as prostitutes.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2008/02/17/project-kare.html
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WS discussion threads:
CANADA Canada - Rene Lynn Gunning, 19, Edmonton Alberta, 18 Feb 2005 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community
CANADA Canada - Krystal Ann Julia Knott, 16, Edmonton Alberta, 18 Feb 2005 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community
"On the May long weekend, a group of campers from Grande Prairie. Alta., discovered two skulls in a well-known area a half-hour southeast of the city.
Police began days of forensic work at the scene. The skulls were sent to the medical examiner's office in Edmonton.
Police notified Project Kare, an RCMP-led police team investigating deaths and disappearances of women living high-risk lifestyles. Project Kare had taken on the cases of Gunning and Knott in July 2007 because they regularly hitchhiked. The pair were not believed to be involved in prostitution.
RCMP spokesman Tim Taniguchi confirmed Thursday that one of the skulls was positively identified by the medical examiner as Rene Gunning. The second skull would require more tests before it could be identified, Taniguchi said."
Virgina Sampare vanished on October 14, 1971, while hanging out with her cousin. Her cousin left her to return to his home to get a coat, but never saw her again. He reports hearing a pickup door slam shut, but no one knows what exactly happened to Virginia, despite an extensive search.
Virginia doesn't fit the E-Pana criteria as an official victim for the project. Her family says it would not be like Virginia to have run away, as she always told them where she was going. However, reports that she was depressed at the time over the recent disappearance of her boyfriend (who was later found drowned) have left open theories that she moved away or committed suicide. Virginia's siblings do not believe either of these theories to be true.
Her case was reopened in 2001, but there have been no conclusions reached.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/vanished/Siblings+hope+sister+rest/2330765/story.html
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WS discussion thread:
CANADA Virginia Sampare, 18, Missing since 1971 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community
<rsbm>Her cousin even heard the abductor's car-door slap!
<rsbm>
Interesting that it was actually specified to as the sound of a "pickup" door. How does one tell the difference between the sound of a car or a pickup? Could just be a mis-statement, but still curious.
ETA: I think the reason Virgina is not included in HOT is because she was not known to be hitch-hiking or engaging in other high-risk behaviours. She was simply with her cousin, then gone.
<rsbm>
Interesting that it was actually specified to as the sound of a "pickup" door. How does one tell the difference between the sound of a car or a pickup? Could just be a mis-statement, but still curious.
ETA: I think the reason Virgina is not included in HOT is because she was not known to be hitch-hiking or engaging in other high-risk behaviours. She was simply with her cousin, then gone.
<rsbm>
Interesting that it was actually specified to as the sound of a "pickup" door. How does one tell the difference between the sound of a car or a pickup? Could just be a mis-statement, but still curious.
ETA: I think the reason Virgina is not included in HOT is because she was not known to be hitch-hiking or engaging in other high-risk behaviours. She was simply with her cousin, then gone.
I have to assume that the other skull will be Krystal.
Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Fath...s+identified/4925320/story.html#ixzz1OuiWqbEU
(no title)
EDMONTON - The father of a young mother whose skull was found near Grande Prairie, Alta., by campers says investigators should look into possible links to all missing persons cases along the notorious Highway of Tears.
"Gunning's father, Jo Gunning, said police must look at all possible links to cases of missing women along the infamous 800-km stretch of Highway 16, between Prince George, B.C., and Prince Rupert, B.C.
It's a so-called Bermuda Triangle, where women have mysteriously vanished along the road, including a 25-year-old Red Deer, Alta., woman who was hitchhiking along the highway in 2002."
More to this article.