Cold Case File Top Cop Talks About Murder Cases

By 250 News

Superintendant Leon Van De Wille at left, talks with family touched by Highway of Tears

Call him the King of the Cold Case File. RCMP Superintendant Leon Van Der Wille has been asked to  present four lectures this year on  the subject of cold case file investigations in the United States. He is also the man  in charge of the Highway of Tears investigations in B.C.

He was one of several senior R.C.M.P. officers listening and taking notes as families touched by the tragedy of missing or murdered loved ones, shared their stories at a special symposium in Prince George.  

Right now,  he has a team collecting all the investigative files of all the missing persons  and murder cases that are  linked to Highway 16.  All the information will be  put into a data base for possible comparison with any other case in the country.  Once all the information has been entered into the data base, 8 investigators will be assigned to make this case their sole  focus.  "I have found that when your investigators can work on  the one case, and give it their total focus,  you will  have success" says Van De Wille.  He admits though, that while families find it frustrating to have to go over the same details with new investigators  year after year,  that change may be a good thing "I think its healthy to have new investigators review files" says Van De Wille,  he believes it offers a fresh view, a new start to some cases.

Police were ciriticized by some family members for not taking their concerns seriously, and for a lack of communication.  "I admit,  we haven't always  been good at communicating with the families,  but we are working hard at getting better at it."  He  invited families to meet with him or other senior officers to make arrangements about  how to best keep the communication lines open.  "We need to know what works best for you" he told those in attendance. 

He also addressed the concern that complaints aren't  "taken seriously".  Van De Wille says he has worked on many murder cases, and its the ones  that remain unsolved that haunt him   "As a police officer, no greater responsibility has been bestowed upon us than to investigate the death of someone who can no longer speak for themselves.  We take this very seriously."

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