RCMP admit an investigation into the disappearances of women along B.C.’s ‘Highway of Tears’ is at a standstill.
The Highway of Tears investigation looks at the murders and disappearances of 18 girls and women along Highways 16, 97 and 5 between 1969 and 2006.
A year ago police announced that they believed American felon Bobby Jack Fowler was responsible for at least one murder along B.C.’s ‘Highway of Tears’ – 16-year-old Colleen MacMillen.
In 1974, Colleen left her Lac La Hache home to hitchhike a few kilometres to a friend’s house. Her body was found one month later on a logging road south of 100 Mile House.
Fowler is also considered a strong suspect in the cases of two other women – Gale Weys and Pamela Darlington.
Gale Weys disappeared on October 19, 1973, and her body was found April 6 1974 south of Clearwater along Highway 5. She was only 19 at the time.
Pamela Darlington was 19 when she went missing just a month later, on November 6, 1973. She was last seen at the David Thompson Pub in Kamloops. Her body was found the next day.
12-year-old Monica Jack is believed to be the youngest victim in the Highway of Tears murders. She was last seen riding her bike on May 6, 1978 near Nicola Lake. Her body was found in June 1995, north of Merritt.
It is believed police had a suspect but not enough evidence to lay charges.
Hundreds of tips have flooded in over the past year, but officers say none of them have panned out and they are no closer to charging anyone in the case.
Fowler, 66, died in prison from lung cancer seven years ago. He was 10 years into a 16 year sentence for sexually assaulting and kidnapping a local woman.
In 2005, the RCMP launched Project E-PANA. It consists of 13 homicide investigations and five missing people’s investigations.
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