CANADA Canada - Unsolved murders of young people in London, Ont, 1960s-70s

[Richard]

Jackie English, fifteen, disappeared on 4 October 1969. Five days later, her body was found by two duck hunters in Big Otter Creek near Tillsonburg.

LINK:

Fifty years on, sister keeps alive memory of murdered Jackie English, 15

Walk will memorialized last known walk of teen who was abducted and murdered

lfpress.com

 

[casesensitive]

W5 episode of Jackie's case, and her sister Anne's dedication and life passion to find her killer.

 

[brandonfromlondon]

To my knowledge he is living in Kitchener and still working as a long-haul trucker. There is a telephone listing for him there. Can you possibly recover the piece you read regarding his immigration to Scotland? I have researched him quite thoroughly and have never found mention of that. I wonder how it would be possible to emigrate with that conviction?

How did you figure this out ? I've been trying to figure out where he is, my grandmother lived in Kitchener between 88 and 2006 or so and was famiar with his name but couldn't recall exactly, as she's a member of the same congergation at one time or another

 

[brandonfromlondon]

I came across this Jehovah Witness Crime Cases URL when i did a google search on David Bodemer after watching the program on London Ontario. He is apparently still living in the area.

I happen to know the crooker family , I myself am much younger and didn't learn about all this till years later, I actually grew up attending the Aylmer kingdom hall unfortunately. How did you find anything about him still living in the area ? I was under the impression he was in Kitchener , would you be able to share your references ??

 

[Michael_Rivers]

It has been a very long time since I looked at this thread, and I've even gone through a user name change and career change, but I'm fully intent on researching these cases further. I'm not from the area but I am a historian now and will only offer my analysis if I think it will be helpful. Jacqueline Dunleavy's story really hit me a few years ago, and I hope to shed some light on her case as well as the others.

 

[Laura Brown]

I have read both The Forest City Killer & Murder City.
I started a journey in late 2022 to locate a missing schoolfriend - Simon Wilson, who went missing in January 1975. Simon is briefly mentioned in Murder City. Simon's case is very similar to that of Frankie Jensen though Simon was never found. While I have come to the conclusion that Simon has crossed, I would like at least to know what happened to him. It is thought that at least one of the men possibly involved in some of these crimes ended up in Toronto not too far from where Simon lived. His parents were separated when he went missing, his dad lived in High Park by the time of the disappearance. Once I started looking into Simon's disappearance, and came across the murders in London (which shocked me I have to say), it has opened my eyes to the amount of missing & murdered people from the 1940's onwards. Many are still unsolved, those missing not found; the murdered not having their cases solved. The families need closure so much. There is so little about these cases either (barring the books on the London murders). More attention needs to be given to these cases, the police need to be willing to share some info (barring holding back stuff for the sake of knowing they have the right person should it come up) because they want people to help them so they ought do the same, reciprocate. I am trying to collate as much as I can not only about Simon, the murders in London, Glen Fryer, & other missing/murdered people. Too many have ended up cold cases. Let's get these cases solved, or at least some of them - as many as possible. Laura

 

[torasu43]

It's been reported that the police have dna from Jacqueline's killer. It's time to make use of genetic genealogy. This has gone on far too long. She deserves justice! The tool to deliver that justice is available, but not used. What a shame.

Hi, fell down another rabbit hole listening and thinking through these cases. Just wondering if anyone knows if genetic genealogy has been done with the cases. I remember something about a "project angel" that used the DNA... but with Christine Jessop's murder being solved through genetic genealogy... is this an option for Jackie, Linda, Soroya, Frankie, Bruce, etc???

 

[Laura Brown]

If they have DNA from Jackie's case, from the perpetrator, then Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG, also seen as Forensic Genetic Genealogy) can solve this crime. Have the police force involved got the DNA uploaded to GEDmatch at all, do we know if any work has been done on that aspect of things? There are groups out there who can do this work - I took a course in IGG last year. More interesting than I can ever say - through Ramapo College in New Jersey. They might be willing to look at the DNA matches to see what they can find, plus there are other organizations that can also help including WolfPack DNA (I volunteer for them). IGG is a useful tool to help with these cases as well as bringing something to help the family have answers. Because 'closure' is not the right word for this process because you get answers rather than closure.

 

[Snoopster]

If they have DNA from Jackie's case, from the perpetrator, then Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG, also seen as Forensic Genetic Genealogy) can solve this crime. Have the police force involved got the DNA uploaded to GEDmatch at all, do we know if any work has been done on that aspect of things? There are groups out there who can do this work - I took a course in IGG last year. More interesting than I can ever say - through Ramapo College in New Jersey. They might be willing to look at the DNA matches to see what they can find, plus there are other organizations that can also help including WolfPack DNA (I volunteer for them). IGG is a useful tool to help with these cases as well as bringing something to help the family have answers. Because 'closure' is not the right word for this process because you get answers rather than closure.

I believe that the OPP has a pretty reasonable budget to pursue IGG in key (appropriate) cold cases. They have used it to great success. For some of the London Ontario cold cases I'm guessing that a couple are already 'solved' but the perpetrator is long dead so OPP don't want to spend their budget on that. For other cases, it depends on the quality of the DNA, and, if not of reasonable quality, then Othram (or similar high quality lab) was not able to find a close enough DNA match on GEDMATCH or FTDNA. I don't think these cases have been overlooked.
Just my opinion.

P.S. I wish you luck in your academic pursuits! It's so great that more people are taking these kind of courses. I'm sure many, many more cold cases will be solved using these techniques!

 

[Laura Brown]

I believe that the OPP has a pretty reasonable budget to pursue IGG in key (appropriate) cold cases. They have used it to great success. For some of the London Ontario cold cases I'm guessing that a couple are already 'solved' but the perpetrator is long dead so OPP don't want to spend their budget on that. For other cases, it depends on the quality of the DNA, and, if not of reasonable quality, then Othram (or similar high quality lab) was not able to find a close enough DNA match on GEDMATCH or FTDNA. I don't think these cases have been overlooked.
Just my opinion.

P.S. I wish you luck in your academic pursuits! It's so great that more people are taking these kind of courses. I'm sure many, many more cold cases will be solved using these techniques!

Thanks! It's amazing, it's a small field as yet still. I have found it interesting for a while & when the chance came up to take this course...well. No thought needed. I will say that with IGG we tend to work with any matches we get. Because even if not close ones such as parents/siblings/first cousins, having 3rd cousins or farther - can be done, is done all the time. It just takes longer. Some of the things available to use on Gedmatch, FtDNA, DNAPainter make things a lot easier. Not easy just help make it easier. The Christine Jessop case was solved with IGG, but the fellow was dead, which is going to happen a lot when the cases worked on are older. But. Even allowing for that, it means the case is closed & the family has answers which they can then process.

 

[othram]

If they have DNA from Jackie's case, from the perpetrator, then Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG, also seen as Forensic Genetic Genealogy) can solve this crime. Have the police force involved got the DNA uploaded to GEDmatch at all, do we know if any work has been done on that aspect of things? There are groups out there who can do this work - I took a course in IGG last year. More interesting than I can ever say - through Ramapo College in New Jersey. They might be willing to look at the DNA matches to see what they can find, plus there are other organizations that can also help including WolfPack DNA (I volunteer for them). IGG is a useful tool to help with these cases as well as bringing something to help the family have answers. Because 'closure' is not the right word for this process because you get answers rather than closure.

Genetic genealogy research is not the bottleneck for these Canadian cases. It is primarily funding and policy changes.

 

[Snoopster]

Genetic genealogy research is not the bottleneck for these Canadian cases. It is primarily funding and policy changes.

Well that's certainly helpful to know. I've always suspected that LE knows who perpetrated some of these cold cases (particularly the serial killer cold cases in London ON and region) and just don't want to spend the money (perhaps validly so) to confirm what they know. But I am very interested in understanding funding/policy decision for other cases.

And, can I say yet again, thank you for what you do Othram!!

 

[Laura Brown]

Genetic genealogy research is not the bottleneck for these Canadian cases. It is primarily funding and policy changes.

That's a huge issue in this, funding & recent policy changes. Thank you for the work you do in this field - without your good work, so many cases would still be unsolved.

 

[Laura Brown]

Well that's certainly helpful to know. I've always suspected that LE knows who perpetrated some of these cold cases (particularly the serial killer cold cases in London ON and region) and just don't want to spend the money (perhaps validly so) to confirm what they know. But I am very interested in understanding funding/policy decision for other cases.

And, can I say yet again, thank you for what you do Othram!!

Some of the cases in London the answers are known but for various reasons it cannot be shared. LE does know but there's also the issue of people coming forward & talking, telling what they know. Hard sometimes with old cases because people's memories fail. Using IGG, combined with other LE methods, can help a lot.

 

[Claroon]

Much belated, but there are many unsolved murder of young people in London Ontario Canada back in the 1960s and 1970s. While a couple of serial killers were arrested, many other cases remain unsolved.

These unsolved cases have recently attracted the attention of various people, including a LE officer, Dr. Mike Arntfield, who happens to be a university professor. "Dr. Mike" felt compelled to bring some of this information public through a TV show, particularly in light of the trove of information that was brought forward by the son of the key detective originally involved in the investigation of the murders of these young people.

The London Free Press published this article today:

Boxing in a serial killer


Included in these unsolved murders in the London area:

Jacqueline Dunleavy, 16, disappeared, in January 1968, on her way home from work at a variety store. Her body was found less than 2 hours later a few miles from work in the northwest area of London.

Frankie Jensen, 9, disappeared on his way to school in February 1968, only a couple of miles from where Jacqueline Dunleavy's body was found. His body was found a couple of months later in a river northeast of London.

Scott Leishman, 16, disappeared in March 1968, from a village northeast of London (Thamesford). His body was found in the mouth of a creek, near Lake Erie, southeast of London.

Lynda White, 19, a university student in London Ontario, disappeared after writing an exam in November 1968. Her body was found many miles SW of London a few years later. It was nude and in a very shallow grave.

Bruce Stapylton, 11, disappeared in June 1969. His body was found a few miles north of London in a woodlot.

Jackie English, 15, disappeared on her way home from work in October 1969. Her body was found, nude in a creek, a few weeks later and her clothes and personal belongings were found in various places south and southeast of London.

Soraya O'Connell, 15, disappeared while hitchhiking home from a community centre at 10 pm in August 1970. Her body was found many mile east of London, under limbs and leaves.

There are a number of other crimes against young people, or young adult women, during this general time period, however it is clear that a predator, or predators will operating in the area.

so many perps getting away with murder!!

 

[Claroon]

wow - this is creepy

I had no idea about these cases!

they're all over the board age and gender-wise ... makes me wonder if they could be victims of more than one serial killer

also, notice how the locations of bodies found are:

northwest
northeast
southeast
southwest
north
south/southwest
east

makes me wonder if a) - there's some kind of pattern there and b) - one serial killer was operating in the north end of the city and the other towards the south

ok, off to read more!

They say draw a triangle of the locations to find out where the perp lives.

 

[LadyL]

They say draw a triangle of the locations to find out where the perp lives.

except it's literally the entire city minus the west end, which is interesting - maybe he lived in the west and travelled outside his area to kill

 

[dotr]

Probable reposts

Jan 18, 2020
W5's Avery Haines investigates a series of unsolved cold cases that may point to the existence of at least one unidentified serial killer who operated in London, Ont.

Jared Lindzon 19 Aug 2015

What turned one city in Canada into the 'serial killer capital' of the world?

London, Ontario once suffered the highest concentration of serial killers on Earth, and 16 of 29 murder cases were never concluded – but a new book looks to a former detective’s diary entries to offer new theories

www.theguardian.com

''Two hours west of Toronto, along Highway 401, lies the small city of London, Ontario.

Known as the Forest City, the town is the birthplace of Justin Bieber, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. And between 1959 and 1984, it was home to the largest known concentration of serial killers in the world.''
................................
''What made London such a hotbed for homicidal activity at the time remains unknown, though Arntfield presents a number of theories in his book.

London is commonly used as a test market for major brands that want to introduce new products to Canada. Factors including population size, average income and demographic makeup make it among the most “average” cities in Canada, and one marketers have historically depended on to determine whether a product will succeed countrywide.

American test markets – like Richmond, Virginia, Muncie, Indiana, and Rochester, New York – have all had alarmingly similar histories, with violent crime rates higher than the national average.

“It’s not that having the McRib first or being a test market city makes you a haven for serial killers. It’s that the underlying sociological factors that make those places preferred locales for marketers also seem to see disproportionate numbers of [sexually deviant and violent] offenders,” said Arntfield.''

“Studies have since shown that from ’56 onward, the US interstate changed the criminal landscape significantly,” said Arntfield, adding that the FBI has since developed a highway serial killings initiative to investigate the connection between major highways and serial murders.''

 

[Snoopster]

except it's literally the entire city minus the west end, which is interesting - maybe he lived in the west and travelled outside his area to kill

I'm not sure about that.
Frankie Jensen disappeared from the west end and was found NE of London. Jacqueline Dunleavy disappeared slightly to the west and was found even further west in London, by current day Matthews Hall.

 

[LadyL]

I'm not sure about that.
Frankie Jensen disappeared from the west end and was found NE of London. Jacqueline Dunleavy disappeared slightly to the west and was found even further west in London, by current day Matthews Hall.

yes I remember now thank you