Suspected Edmonton Serial Killer
Unexplained Deaths Date Back to 1975
EDMONTON — Police aren’t saying if another body found near Edmonton might be linked to a possible serial killer working in the area.
The bodies of three other women were recently discovered in the same area near Leduc, Alta., adding to the total of dozens of Edmonton-area prostitutes missing and killed over the past four decades.
Last week, RCMP said they might be dealing with a predator targeting at-risk women.
Leduc RCMP say the latest remains were found on Monday in the town of Calmar, about 50 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.
Police say foul play has not been ruled out.
Last week, RCMP identified human remains found on a property south of Edmonton as Corrie Ottenbreit, a sex worker, who was last seen in Edmonton in May 2004.
The bodies of at least 30 prostitutes have been turning up in rural areas surrounding the city since 1975. Dozens more are still listed as missing. The cases prompted RCMP to create Project KARE in 2003, which collects identifying information on sex workers.
More than 1,200 Alberta women in high-risk lifestyles have registered with the system, which contains their name, address, DNA sample and a photo.
RCMP were able to identify Ottenbreit’s remains with a hair sample she provided.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Gerard MacNeil, with Project KARE, told the Edmonton Sun in 2012 that he’s convinced a serial killer is still on the loose, despite convictions in some of the cases.
The cases bear an eerily similarity to the Highway of Tears murders in British Columbia. At least 18 at-risk women have disappeared along a section of highway in the province.
It also parallels the case of Robert Pickton, who was found guilty of killing dozens of prostitutes from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside at his pig farm.
Some of the missing and murdered sex workers that may be linked to a serial killer in the Edmonton area:
AUG. 2010 — Amber Tuccaro reported missing. Her remains were found on a rural property near Leduc on Sept. 1, 2012.
MARCH 2006 — The body of Bonnie Joan Jack is discovered by two teenagers. The 37-year-old was last seen March 2, 2006, at the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton.
APRIL 2005 — The burned body of Charlene Marie Gauld, a 20-year-old heavy drug user who was last seen a week earlier, is found by an oilfield worker near Camrose.
JAN. 25, 2005 — Samantha Tayleen Berg, 19, is found frozen to the ground under a mound of snow.
JUNE 2004 — The body of Rachel Quinney, 19, is found dumped in Strathcona County.
MAY 2004 — Delores Dawn Brower, 33, was last seen attempting to hitch a ride. Her remains were found in April.
MAY 9, 2004 — Corrie Ottenbreit, 27, is last seen leaving her husband and child to work the streets. Her remains found in Leduc County were identified last week.
JULY 2003 — The badly decomposed body of Katie Sylvia Ballantyne is found in a Leduc County field, nearly three months after she was last seen. The 40-year-old was a crack addict and worked as a prostitute.
APRIL 2003 — The skull of Debbie Darlene Lake is found by a man south of Miquelon Lake, 70 km southeast of Edmonton. The 28-year-old mother was last seen on Nov. 4, 2002, when she left her home to use a pay phone.
JAN. 2003 — The body of Melissa Munch is found in Strathcona County. The 20-year-old worked as a prostitute and was known to steal from her johns. She was last seen earlier that month.
JAN. 2003 — The body of Monique Pitre is found in a field in Strathcona County. She had disappeared on Nov. 25, 2002, after getting a ride from a roommate to a hotel.
SEPT. 2002 — The body of Edna Bernard, 28, is found burned near Leduc. The 28-year-old worked as a prostitute to feed her cocaine habit, and was last seen alive by one of her regular customers who dropped her off in Edmonton a few hours earlier.
SEPT. 1, 1997 — The remains of prostitute Caralyn Aubrey King, 23, discovered in a canola field near Strathmoor Way in Sherwood Park.
OCT. 1989 — The body of Bernadette Lynda Ahenakew, 22, is found in a ditch. She was last seen Sept. 27, 1989, when she left her common-law husband to turn a trick for drug money.
SEPT. 13, 1988 — The half-naked body of prostitute Georgette Flint, 20, is found just west of Elk Island Park.
Miquelon