Raising the Profile of the Highway of Tears

By 250 News

A Prince George man is attempting to do what family members and friends have tried and failed at -- keep the missing and murdered women along Highway 16-west front and foremost in people's minds.

Since 1990, seven teenagers and young women have disappeared or been murdered along the so-called, "Highway of Tears".  The most recent case involves missing 22-year-old Tamara Chipman of Terrace, who was last seen in Prince Rupert back on September 21st. (for Opinion250's complete story, click here)  Terrace R.C.M.P. just held a news conference last week to announce the young woman was missing.

Tony Romeyn says Tamara's disappearance once again raised his awareness of the many missing women and prompted him to act.  He has registered "Highway of Tears" as a domain name and launched a website (www.highwayoftears.ca). Romeyn says his goal is simple, "To make people more aware after the media attention has faded away.  To allow this information not to be forgotten, these women not to be forgotten and to allow it to be in front of people, sort of, on a continual basis."

The Prince George businessman has received several e-mails since going on-line over the weekend, including one from Tamara's aunt, commending him on the website.  He says an individual in Vancouver has offered up a few ideas for keeping the focus on the missing women, "like pictures on milk cartons, for example, or (giving information to) truckers who ply that route on a frequent basis, just to become more and more aware of people that are out there."  Romeyn says, "I think there's a lot more that can be done and I'll certainly be looking at some of those avenues."

While the idea of a serial killer on Highway 16 has been discussed for years, police continue to dispute the claim.  In an interview with the Vancouver Sun newspaper this weekend, Vancouver R.C.M.P. Sergeant John Ward said, "There is nothing to indicate there is a serial killer -- nothing -- but you can never close your mind to anything."
"The only common thread is the highway, " he said.  "That's the only road in and out, and it's a desolate area."

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