FORSAKEN The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Volume I The Honourable Wally T. Oppal, QC Commissioner FORSAKEN The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry VOLUME I The Women, Their Lives and the Framework of Inquiry: Setting the Context for Understanding and Change The Honourable Wally T. Oppal, QC Commissioner British Columbia November 19, 2012 Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication British Columbia. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Forsaken [electronic resource] : the report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry / Wally T. Oppal, Commissioner. Complete contents: Vol. I. The women, their lives and the framework of inquiry, setting the context for understanding and change - v. II. Nobodies, how and why we failed the missing and murdered women - v. III. Gone, but not forgotten, building the women’s legacy of safety together - v. IV. The Commission’s process. - Executive summary. Issued also in printed form. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-9917299-7-5 1. Serial murder investigation--British Columbia. 2. Missing persons--Investigation --British Columbia. 3. Murder victims--British Columbia. 4. Pickton, Robert William. 5. British Columbia. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. 6. Downtown-Eastside (Vancouver, B.C.). 7. Governmental investigations--British Columbia. I. Oppal, Wallace T II. Title. HV6762 B75 B75 2012 363.25’9523209711 C2012-980202-6 Access to Report Please contact the following if you are interested in receiving a copy of the report or a CD-ROM of the report: Distribution Centre-Victoria PO Box 9455 STN PROV GOVT Victoria, BC V8W 9V7 Phone: 250 952 4460 Toll free: 1 800 282 7955 Fax: 250 952 4431 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.bcsolutions.gov.bc.ca/opc/ For general inquiries, please call Service BC Call Centre Hours of operation are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST – Monday through Friday In Victoria call: 250 387 6121 In Vancouver call: 604 660 2421 Elsewhere in BC call: 1 800 663 7867 Outside British Columbia call: 1 604 660 2421 Email address: [email protected] Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD) In Vancouver call: 604 775 0303 Elsewhere in BC call: 1 800 661 8773 TABLE OF CONTENTS “Simply Gone”: Last Sightings of Loved Ones ..........................................................................1 PART 1 – INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW .........................................................................4 A. Forsaken ..........................................................................................................................4 B. Overview of the Commission Mandate and Process ........................................................6 C. Acknowledgments ...........................................................................................................8 D. Overview of the Report .................................................................................................10 PART 2 - THE CRISIS OF MISSING AND MURDERED WOMEN ............................................14 A. Introduction ..................................................................................................................14 B. International ..................................................................................................................14 United States ...............................................................................................................15 Federal Bureau of Investigation database ...................................................................16 New York State ...........................................................................................................16 Houston, Texas ..........................................................................................................16 Cleveland, Ohio ........................................................................................................16 Alaska ........................................................................................................................17 New Mexico ..............................................................................................................17 Green River, Washington ...........................................................................................17 United Kingdom ..........................................................................................................18 Yorkshire murders ......................................................................................................18 Ipswich murders ........................................................................................................18 Latin America ..............................................................................................................19 C. Canada .........................................................................................................................20 Police-reported statistics in Canada ............................................................................21 Alberta .......................................................................................................................22 Saskatchewan ............................................................................................................22 Manitoba ...................................................................................................................23 Ontario ......................................................................................................................23 Aboriginal Women ......................................................................................................23 Native Women’s Association of Canada – Sisters In Spirit database ...........................24 Walk4Justice database ...............................................................................................27 CEDAW Inquiry under the Optional Protocol .............................................................27 D. British Columbia ...........................................................................................................28 PART 3 – THE WOMEN .........................................................................................................32 A. Introduction ..................................................................................................................32 B. In Memoriam ................................................................................................................36 Marlene Abigosis .........................................................................................................36 Sereena Abotsway .......................................................................................................37 Sharon Abraham .........................................................................................................38 Elaine Allenbach .........................................................................................................38 Angela Arsenault .........................................................................................................39 Sherry Baker ................................................................................................................39 Cindy Beck ..................................................................................................................40 Yvonne Boen...............................................................................................................40 Andrea Borhaven ........................................................................................................40 Heather Bottomley ......................................................................................................41 Heather Chinnock .......................................................................................................41 Nancy Clark ................................................................................................................41 Wendy Crawford .........................................................................................................41 Marcella Creison .........................................................................................................42 Dawn Crey ..................................................................................................................42 Sarah de Vries .............................................................................................................43 “Jane Doe” ..................................................................................................................44 Sheryl Donahue ..........................................................................................................45 Tiffany Drew ...............................................................................................................45 Elaine Dumba .............................................................................................................46 Sheila Egan .................................................................................................................46 Cara Ellis .....................................................................................................................46 Gloria Fedyshyn ..........................................................................................................47 Cynthia Feliks ..............................................................................................................48 Marnie Frey .................................................................................................................48