No Answers but Plenty of Questions Following Weekend Session with RCMP

Monday, November 09, 2009 10:04 AM

Prince George, B.C.- The weekend get together between the RCMP and families of the women who are missing or have been murdered along Highway 16, was a little disappointing for Brenda Wilson. She is the sister of Ramona Wilson who was hitch hiking to a friends home in Smithers in June of 1994 , her remains were discovered near the Smithers airport in April of 1995.

“We got to meet with other family members who are going through the same thing” said Wilson on the Meisner program this morning on CFISFM. “My sister would have been 31 today, and while there are other cases which are older, we all ask, why is this taking so long?” She says the families wonder if the investigation is bogged down in process, and if so, the process should change. She says the meeting didn’t provide any information on any of the cases, “If there was information, it would be given to the individual families, not just put out there.”

While there have been calls for a public inquiry into the Highway of Tears, Brenda Wilson is not convinced that would find all the answers , “I think in some ways it would help, but it would take away the individuality of the victims. For each person is missing, you need to see them as a person, who they were and what their dreams were. Each one had loved ones, they may have been a daughter, or a sister, or an auntie and they had a purpose in that family and in that community.”

Wilson urges other family members to individualize their cases, and says there needs to be something done about transportation between rural communities. “I have people coming up to me and asking for a ride, there is no transportation, they still have their roots here in Smithers, but they have to live in Houston because of economic conditions.”

“There are people out there that know something, they’re either afraid to come forward or they are no longer here, but somebody knows what happened.”

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Posted on Monday, November 09, 2009 10:04 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: rambleon on November 9 2009 11:18 AM

...and after all of this, it's still not uncommon to see young women hitchhiking on HWY16.

Posted by: Bridget on November 9 2009 12:34 PM

One of the biggest issues here is poverty. When you don't have your own transportation and if you don't have money, hitchhiking is the only way to get around...unfortunately.
Trying to stop people from hitchhiking is not the major problem here. Not all of the victims were hitchhiking when they went missing. Making these cases a priority has been the major problem. The RCMP say they meet with the families twice a year to show their commitment to them. How is this possible when the consistent message is there has been no progress made in the investigations. Instead of wasting time and money on these meetings, why not put it to better use like one-on-one support for family members. I'm sure this would be more useful and appreciated.
I feel badly for the family members. Another year gone by and no closure.

Posted by: MrPG on November 9 2009 3:52 PM

"One of the biggest issues here is poverty. When you don't have your own transportation and if you don't have money, hitchhiking is the only way to get around...unfortunately.
Trying to stop people from hitchhiking is not the major problem here."

Stopping people from hitchhiking would go a long way and perhaps save some lives. There is no excuse. Is putting your life on the line a worthy gamble just to get somewhere you have to go? It makes no sense whatsoever.

As for the police, they have limited resources. It's not like there are a stack of tips to go on. Unfortunately, the more time passes, the worse chance they have of finding anyone. And it may not just be one person they are looking for. All of this adds up to a very little chance of success.

Posted by: travism on November 9 2009 5:30 PM

My heart goes out to the families, but, if there are no witnesses and remains aren't found for extended periods of time after the actual crime. I can see how it would be VERY difficult to get any leads. I drove that highway for the first time a couple weeks ago and can't believe how lonely a stretch of highway it is. It seems to me it is going to boil down to luck.