Regina police respond to social media rumour

REGINA – Regina police are working to quell rumours that have spread on social media suggesting that a serial killer is on the loose in Regina and that police are not warning the public of this until after Grey Cup.

In a lengthy statement posted to Facebook, Regina Police Chief Troy Hagen explains that there is no truth to the rumour and that investigators continue to work on our city’s unsolved homicides.

On behalf of Chief Troy Hagen:

We have learned of a great deal of concern being shared through Facebook and other social media in the past day. The Regina Police Service has not issued a bulletin describing an imminent threat from any individual to First Nations women in Regina and area. 

This idea may have come out of our ongoing discussions with SK First Nations leadership about some of our unsolved cases (involving women) dating back to 2005. We have two unsolved homicides, one in 2005 and one in 2013, which involve First Nations women. We do not have any evidence that links those two cases. We also have four long-term missing persons cases (2007, 2012 and two in 2013) involving women, three of whom are First Nations, one of whom is Caucasian. 

As investigators, we have to be objective and consider every possibility, including the possibility that the cases have a common link…but we have not established such a link. Still, we cannot say for certain that they are not connected…since they are unsolved and we know there are still many unanswered questions. The factors that DO emerge in each of these cases are substance abuse and addiction and we believe that these may have contributed to each person’s vulnerability. That has been the basis of recent discussions with FSIN leaders, looking for a way to warn people to be more careful if addictions cloud their decision-making…not judging, just asking people to take more care with their own safety. As for a rumoured reluctance to issue a warning this week: there is absolutely no truth to that. If the Regina Police Service felt there was an imminent threat to public safety we would issue a warning immediately. 

In addition: we also sit on a Provincial Partnership Committee on Missing Persons with many stakeholders including the FSIN. And the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police has a missing persons page on its website that seeks to make people aware of all missing persons cases in SK and asks for information. We hope this helps to clarify this issue for our community. Thank you for your concern.