Highway of Tears

Highway of Tears The Highway of Tears is a 724 kilometre stretch of the Yellowhead Highway 16 in British Columbia stretching from Prince George to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. 23 First Nations communities border the Highway of Tears. It is infamously known as the site where dozens of women and teenage girls, the vast majority of whom are Indigenous, have gone missing or been found murdered since the highway was completed in 1969. Timeline The documented cases span from 1969 to 2006, though community leaders emphasize that violence and vulnerability along the corridor remain ongoing threats. Naming the Highway The "Highway of Tears" got its name from Florence Naziel, who coined the phrase during a 1998 vigil in Terrace, British Columbia, while thinking of the families crying over the loss of their loved ones. Lack of Transportation The area is largely isolated and remote. Due to the lack of public transportation between communities and the low rate of vehicle ownership and mobility, hitchhiking is often the only way for many to travel vast distances to see family or go to work, school, or seek medical treatment. Many of the Highway of Tears victims were last seen or reported to be hitchhiking before their disappearances. Highway of Tears Symposium In March 2006, various Aboriginal groups hosted a two-day Highway of Tears symposium in Prince George. In attendance were the victim's families and over 500 Aboriginal leaders from across British Columbia. Shortly thereafter, the Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendation Report was issued with 33 recommendations to improve public transit, deter hitchhiking, and prevent violence towards Aboriginal women. The BC Bus North Service In an effort to eliminate the need for hitchhiking, in June 2017, a subsidized transit service began operations on alternating days along a 400 kilometre section between Prince George and Burns Lake. Improved Cellular Coverage The Recommendation Report also suggested improving cellular coverage along the entire length of the highway to eliminate dead zones. On December 30, 2024, Rogers installed five 5G cell towers along the highway to close a gap in cell service along a 166 kilometre stretch between Prince Rupert and Prince George. Project E-Pana In response to the Highway of Tears crisis, the RCMP in BC launched Project E-Pana in 2005 with the purpose of solving cases of missing and murdered persons, along a section of Highway 16 between Prince Rupert, British Columbia and Prince George, British Columbia. The name E-Pana was chosen from a concatenation of E from "E" Division, which is the RCMP division and Pana, which is the name of an Inuit goddess who cares for souls before heaven or reincarnation. E-Pana Mandate E-Pana sought to discover if there was a single serial killer at work or a multitude of killers operating along the highway. The unit started with 3 cases in 2005, then the unit investigated 9 cases in 2006, but by 2007, its caseload had doubled to 18 and its geographical scope began spanning large parts of the province and not just the Highway of Tears. E-Pana Criteria The following criteria must be met by the victims in order to be added to the E-Pana list: The victim was female; The victim was engaged in one or more 'high risk' behaviours which would tend to place them in the control of strangers – primary examples of this would be hitchhiking alone or sex work; The victim went missing from, or her body was found near highway 16, 97, 5 and 24; The evidence indicated a stranger attack. Government organizations and Indigenous organizations have different estimates of the number of victims along the highway, with police identifying 18 murders and disappearances, 13 of them teenagers, and other organizations placing the number as closer to 40. A reason for this numerical discrepancy is that for a disappearance or murder to be included in the RCMP's E-Pana project statistics, the RCMP requires for the crime to have happened within a mile of Highway 16, 97, or 5; their count rejects all cases that take place elsewhere along the route. E-Pana Updates The RCMP maintains that every unsolved file under Project E-Pana remains open and ongoing until there is a judicial resolution. Investigators provided ongoing case updates as recently as April 2026 during the 20th anniversary of the Highway of Tears Symposium in Prince George. While the task force once employed roughly 70 full-time investigators, resources and staffing numbers were significantly reduced over the years due to budget adjustments. The Tears Still Flow Women continue to experience violence and disappearances along or near the regional transit corridors. Unsolved regional cases such as the 2018 disappearances of Jessica Patrick and Cynthia Martin continue to be raised by families and organizations seeking systemic safety changes. Chelsey Amanda Quaw The most recent suspicious death linked to British Columbia's Highway 16 corridor is Chelsey Amanda Quaw, a 29-year-old member of the Saik'uz First Nation near Vanderhoof. She disappeared on October 11, 2023, and her remains were found in a wooded area of her community's territory on November 6, 2023.

The Victims While the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Project E-PANA officially recognizes 18 specific murder and missing persons investigations, local Indigenous organizations and advocates estimate the actual number of victims exceeds 40. This following list endeavours to name the known women who went missing, were murdered, or died of unknown causes in the Highway of Tears. Gloria Moody 37 Homicide Williams Lake 1969 Micheline Pare 18 Homicide St. John 1970 Tracey Clifton Missing Prince Rupert 1970–1979 Helen Claire Frost* 17 Missing Prince George 1970 Jean Virginia Sampare* 18 Missing Gitsegukla 1971 Pamela Darlington 19 Homicide Kamloops 1973 Gale Weys 18 Homicide Clearwater 1973 Monica Ignas 15 Homicide Thornhill 1974 Colleen MacMillen 16 Homicide Lac La Hache 1974 Coreen Thomas 21 Homicide Vanderhoof 1976 Mary Jane Hill 31 Homicide Prince Rupert 1978 Monica Jack 12 Homicide Merritt 1978 Jean Mary Kovacs 36 Homicide Prince George 1981 Maureen Mosie 33 Homicide Salmon Arm 1981 Roswitha Fuchsbichler 13 Homicide Prince George 1981 Nina Marie Joseph 15 Homicide Prince George 1982 Shelley-Anne Bascu 16 Missing Hinton, Alberta 1983 Doreen Jack & Family 26 Missing Prince George 1989 Alberta Gail Williams 24 Homicide Prince Rupert 1989 Marnie Blanchard 18 Homicide Prince George 1989 Delphine Camelia Nikal* 15 Missing Smithers 1990 Donna Mae Charlie 22 Homicide Prince George 1990 Therese Umphrey 38 Homicide Prince George 1993 Ramona Lisa Wilson 16 Homicide Smithers 1994 Roxanne Thiara 15 Homicide Burns Lake 1994 Alisha 'Leah' Germaine 15 Homicide Prince George 1994 Lana Derrick 19 Missing Thornhill 1995 Deena Braem* 16 Homicide Quesnel 1999 Nicole Hoar 24 Missing Prince George 2002 Mary Madeline George 31 Missing Prince George 2005 Tamara Lynn Chipman 22 Missing Prince Rupert 2005 Aielah Saric-Auger 14 Homicide Prince George 2006 Bonnie Marie Joseph* 31 Missing Vanderhoof 2007 Jill Stacey Stuchenko 35 Homicide Prince George 2009 Emmalee Rose McLean 16 Unknown Prince Rupert 2010 Natasha Lynn Montgomery 23 Homicide Prince George 2010 Cynthia Frances Maas 35 Homicide Prince George 2010 Madison Scott* 20 Missing Vanderhoof 2011 Immaculate Basil* 26 Missing Fort St. James 2013 Anita Thorne* 49 Missing Prince George 2014 Roberta Marie Sims 55 Homicide Prince George 2017 Jessica Patrick 18 Homicide Smithers 2018 Cynthia Martin 50 Unknown Hazelton 2018 Lawrence Maitland 42 Homicide Lax Kwalaams 2019 Laureen Campbell Fabian 69 Missing Houston 2019 Cassandra Kale 28 Homicide Vanderhoof 2020 Crystal Haynes Chambers 34 Homicide Prince George 2020 Chelsey Amanda Quaw 29 Homicide Vanderhoof 2023 Wikipedia – Highway of Tears Canadian Encyclopedia – Highway of Tears * Cases Outside E-PANA Investigations - Indigenous groups claim that there are more missing and murdered women and girls than Project E-PANA acknowledges. These are included.

Convictions To date, a number of people have been convicted in cases related to the Highway of Tears. Three serial killers are among those charged - Brian Peter Arp, Edward Dennis Isaac, and Cody Legebokoff. Brian Peter Arp Serial killer Brian Peter Arp was arrested October 4, 1993 for the murders of Marnie Blanchard in 1989 and Therese Umphrey in 1993. He was sentenced to serve at least 25 years in prison. Edward Dennis Isaac Edward Dennis Isaac is a Canadian serial killer who killed one woman and two teenage girls in Prince George between 1981 and 1982. He was arrested in 1986 after his girlfriend, who had knowledge of his involvement in one of the murders, told the police. He pleaded guilty to killing Jean Mary Kovacs and Roswitha Fuchsbichler in 1981 and Nina Marie Joseph in 1982. He is serving a life sentence in Canadian federal custody. Cody Alan Legebokoff Cody Alan Legebokoff is a Canadian serial killer convicted September 11 2014 of murdering Jill Stacey Stuchenko on 2009, Natasha Lynn Montgomery and Cynthia Frances Maas and Loren Donn Leslie in 2010. Legebokoff is currently serving life in prison. Garry Taylor Handlen In December 2014, Garry Taylor Handlen was charged with first-degree murder of Monica Jack in 1978. He is serving life in prison and currently faces new charges for another murder. Bobby Jack Fowler Bobby Jack Fowler was a serial killer active in the United States and Canada from 1973 to 1995. He died in prison in 2006. His DNA analysis links him to the murders of Colleen MacMillen in Gale Weys in and Pamela Darlington in 1973. The RCMP believe that he may have also killed as many as ten of the other victims, and possibly as many as 20.